Your address can affect your home’s value, in ways you’d never have guessed. It’s well known that your postcode can play a sizeable part in valuing your home. But a new study by Barclays Mortgages has unearthed an unexpected statistic about someone’s address.

Do you live on a street? Or perhaps a close? Possibly a mews or an avenue? The answer can actually affect the price of your home. A study from Barclays Mortgages has revealed that there is a noticeable difference in the value of properties depending on this distinguishing feature of an address. And in some cases, the difference can be as much as £100,000.

Most of us think that the post code, the county or the town you live in has the biggest effect on pricing; but Barclays have found that the first line of your address is as important as the rest of it.

So which street names are the cream of the crop? Is your address type on the list? Below are the 6 most lucratively christened addresses in the UK, from least to most.

6: Street

This might be a relatively common name, but it somehow feels a little more refined than “road”. However, “street” comes in at the bottom of the surveyed locations. Homes situated on a street have an average price of £142,374, some 29 percent below the national average. Two of the three main routes through St Albans that remain from the Medieval period were streets - St Peter’s Street and Fishpool Street. In the 1800s, when newer routes were constructed, the term “road” was favoured - London Road, Hatfield Road and Verulam Road being the main ones of the era.

5: Drive

With an average pricing of £191,675, homes on a drive come in fifth. The Herts region has a number of drives with fascinating back stories. Berners Drive in Sopwell was named after local nun Dame Juliana Berners who wrote the Boke of Saint Albans, first published in 1486 and thought to be the first printed work written in English by a female. It was only one of eight books printed in St Albans and attracted international attention to the area. Years later, Henry VIII sent Anne Boleyn to Sopwell for safety during her controversy and which lead to the christening of Boleyn Drive.

4: Avenue

Place names began being referred to as avenues around 1600, and the term was derived from the Middle French definition “way of access.” The meaning later shifted to “a way of approach to a country house,” usually bordered by trees, lending to the term “avenue of trees”. The term is rather poetic, but it still only comes in at number four.

3: Close and Road

These two are in joint third place. “Road” is derived from the Anglo-Saxon and Middle English words meaning “a riding or mounted journey”. It originates as a rural term rather than an urban one but changed by way of the Latin definition, meaning “a way spread or paved with stones”. Locations titled “close” tend to have a religious link in the St Albans area, such as Nunnery Close, Monks Close and Martyr Close.

2: Way

The runner-up is “way”, with an average property pricing of £218,742, 109 percent relative to the UK average. This term is actually the oldest. It is derived from the Sanskrit, vah, carry, go, move, draw, or travel. Again, this term feels less individual than others such as “avenue” or “close”. Regardless, it comes in second place.

1: Lane

If you live on a lane, you’re at the top of the list. It was revealed to be the most valuable address, with an average house price of £245,906. In the south-east a home in a lane is said to be worth an average of £137,145 more than a property in a street. So if you’re a Herts resident living at an address situated on the likes of Cottonmill Lane (named after the mill there which produced wick cotton for candles) or Butterfield Lane

(named after the miller who was blinded in the 1930s by an icicle that fell from the waterwheel into his eyes) then your home is potentially amongst the most valuable in the region.

Not all industry insiders are sold on this notion. “Anyone wanting to know the true value of their home should take these findings with a pinch of salt,” comments Leaders’ National Sales Director, Kevin Shaw. “Averages can never give you a precise picture and each home has its own unique value based on its exact location, condition and distinctive features.”

Does this add even more complexity to the findings? Can we really distinguish the price point of a property simply from the name given to the land it sits on? Or do we then have to delve deeper into the intricacies of each individual home on the block?

“Whether you live on a lane, road, avenue or even a square or crescent, demand from buyers is high across all areas of the UK,” continues Mr Shaw. “We are finding that properties of all types are selling quickly for their full asking price. The average property in England and Wales is now worth in excess of £9,000 more than it was a year ago, according to the latest Land Registry figures.”