Research by Alliance Fund, the sport investment fund, has revealed that the stadiums of the Premier League’s football clubs could be worth almost £2.5bn in the current market if they were converted into residential properties.
Alliance Fund looked at the residential property potential of each Premier League stadium based on the capacity of each ground, what this converts to in terms of the number of residential flats it could house and the current market value of these flats based on property values in each stadium postcode.
The research shows that should the Premier League’s 20 stadiums be converted into residential housing, their current market value would sit at a huge £2.466bn.
Arsenal’s new ground, Emirates Stadium, ranks top of the league when it comes to residential property market potential. The Emirates has a capacity of 60,704 and based on the Highbury conversion in which one flat was created for every 59 stadium seats, this means the Emirates has the potential for 1,027 flats.
Based on current market values in Islington’s N7 postcode in which the stadium is located, the current average value of a flat sits at £341,585, meaning the stadium holds the potential for £350.8m worth of residential property.
Chelsea’s home ground, Stamford Bridge, has a capacity of 40,853, meaning there is potential for 691 flats and, with an average flat price of £438,525 in the SW6 postcode, Stamford Bridge could be converted into residential flats with a total market value of £303m.
Due to London’s high house prices, the capital’s stadiums fill the top five spots for most valuable conversion potential, with West Ham’s London Stadium totalling £278 million, followed by Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (£256m), and Fulham’s Craven Cottage (£166m).
Manchester United’s Old Trafford has the greatest value potential of all non-London premier league stadiums. Its league-leading capacity of 74,879 means there is room for 1,267 flats which would have a combined market value of £165 million.
This is followed by highflying Newcastle United’s St James’ Park which has a value potential of £122 million.
The Premier League stadiums with the lowest potential conversion value are Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium (£31m), Wolverhampton Wanderers’s Molineux Stadium (£37m), and Everton’s Goodison Park (£37m).
CEO of Alliance Fund, Iain Crawford said, “Football is the nation’s pastime and so evicting the top 20 teams in the nation to help address the housing crisis certainly isn’t what we are suggesting.
However, our research does give some insight into the sheer size and value of these football clubs and just what it takes to build and maintain a stadium fit for the very highest standard of football in England and Wales.
Of course, there is a huge disparity between the top and bottom of the league, but this further demonstrates the tough task facing many smaller clubs if they are to build the foundations for success which inevitably starts with the right facilities to meet the needs of the very best players and a growing fan base.
At such a time, the existing stadium, having been replaced by a new one, will be empty. Smart developers will see this as an opportunity and, just as we’ve seen with Highbury and even Battersea Power Station, they could be converted into living or mixed-use space at which point the incredible values outlined in this research become very real indeed.”
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