There is a new addition to an areas must-have list when buying a property. Good schools and high-end shops such as Waitrose are must have staples but new research from property website PrimeLocation.com reveals the latest craze when looking for a premium property is Michelin starred restaurants, which are opening up in affluent areas with above average house prices. The Prime property portal found that 33 per cent of homes with a Michelin starred restaurant nearby have average asking prices 50 per cent more expensive than the regional average. 

In the wilds of North Yorkshire, Pateley Bridge boasts Michelin-stardom with the culinary delights of the Yorke Arms and property asking prices here are 137 per cent above the regional average. Jamie Adam from our Yorkshire Estate Agents says it is not only because of the Michelin star: The immediate area around the Yorke Arms just outside Pateley Bridge is in a very pretty location on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park a stones throw from Harrogate, which will have a bearing on the inflated house prices there.

The Yorke Arms is in a valley with reservoirs and a large number of the properties there come with land, although there is a limited amount of stock and when they come to market which isnt that often the properties command a premium. These upmarket restaurants certainly bring more affluence to an area and help turn it in to a destination, says Adam: A Michelin starred restaurant almost certainly adds value to an area because it helps make it a destination. For example,the Yorkshire market town of Helmsley nearby has the Michelin starred Black Swan which has brought affluent peopleto the town and other similar businesses have sprung up around it such as the Verbena Spa and Browns department store - Helmsley has become a real destination, as

have other locations with Michelin starred restaurants. So do these stars add value to house prices or do they simply open up in already affluent areas? I think these restaurants make their immediate area more desirable and if youre a foodie then Im sure you would pay a premium to 
live near one, says Adam. Certainly what PrimeLoction.coms figures do verify is that the opening of a Michelin starred restaurant is proof of the popularity of any area.