Anyone wanting to buy property close to Verulamium Park can expect to pay a £50,000 ‘park premium’.

Homes in the streets closest to the park have an average price of £621,940 – 9 per cent higher than the average price for St Albans as a whole, which stands at a marginally more affordable £570,487.

Residents of Southend-on-Sea are really prepared to break the bank in pursuit of a park view, paying a whopping £444,177 – 165 per cent more - to be near Priory Park, where the average home costs £713,351.

According to research conducted by online estate agent HouseSimple.com, buyers are paying an average 19 per cent premium - equivalent to £40,974 - for a property close to or overlooking a park.

HouseSimple.com used Zoopla’s Zed-Index to look at average property prices close to a main park in some of the UK’s biggest towns and cities, then compared them to the average property price in the wider area.

Alex Gosling, CEO of HouseSimple.com, said: “In large urban sprawls where many properties don’t have a garden, living near public parks or green spaces is often one of the top wishes amongst buyers, and that high demand inevitably impacts on the price they will pay.

“Many buyers may not realise just how much of a premium they could be paying for the pleasure of living close to a ‘free’ park. That doesn’t mean there aren’t good value properties around some of the UK’s urban green spaces, but for real value it’s maybe worth looking at roads that are a few minutes further away.”

Not all parks are popular, however – homes close to Peterborough’s Central Park were 27.7 per cent cheaper than those in the wider area, averaging £148,569 compared to £205,534.

We can’t see the sought-after streets around Verulamium following that trend, however.