The independent report, commissioned by EirGrid, has found that the sale prices of residential and farm property in Ireland are not significantly impacted by proximity to overhead transmission lines.
The research was conducted by consultants – Insight Statistical Consulting and Corr Commercial Land Ltd – using published international research, sales data for residential and farm property properties in Ireland, and a survey of the views of Irish estate agents.
Amongst the report’s findings are:
- Analysis of sales data for properties in close proximity to transmission lines in Ireland found there was “no evidence of a statistically significant impact” on prices
- The perception of potential decreases in sales value as a result of high-voltage overhead lines close to property far outweighs the reality borne out in actual sales data
- Internationally, approximately half of the available studies on the issue found no impact on property values; the remaining 50% were generally low, i.e. in the region of 3% to 6%
- The results of both the statistical analysis of the sales of house and farms in Ireland and the international research were compatible; however the views provided by estate agents varied considerably
One of the biggest challenges faced by this project was the need to obtain good quality and accurate data that facilitated the construction of a rigorous statistical model that could isolate the impact of linear infrastructure while factoring out other variables that will impact on price e.g. differences in property characteristics.
Co-author of the report Professor Cathal Walsh, chair of statistics and director of the Centre for Health Decision Science at University of Limerick, said the research should provide comfort for property and landowners near large, planned infrastructural projects, although he acknowledged there is a low level of data available for assessment.
“In the estate agent survey we looked at nine types of types of infrastructure projects, and the agents expressed a view that there would be a negative impact on property value located close to any major infrastructural development. However, when we reviewed the sales data from the same estate agents of property and land situated close to transmission lines, it did not support this anecdotal view,” he said
