EastEnders wins 'battle of the bricks' as it tops soap property value list

EastEnders beats Britain's other major soaps when it comes to property values, a report has found.

With the average brick in a home in Albert Square estimated to be worth nearly £150, many of the soap's fictional characters would find themselves priced out of the property market there in real life.

The research, carried out by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) for Barclays Mortgages, put Emmerdale in second place in the "battle of the bricks", with the typical brick in a home in the Yorkshire Dales valued at nearly £50.

Hollyoaks was in third place, with the average brick in a home there valued at just over £35.

Barclays said one home in Albert Square could be worth more than four properties in rival soap destination Coronation Street, based on the average property sizes in these locations.

The research looked at typical property values and sizes in various locations across Britain to make the findings.

For EastEnders, it looked at properties in East London, for Hollyoaks it looked at those in Chester and for Coronation Street it looked at properties in Salford.

For Welsh language soap Pobol y Cwm, which features the fictional community of Cwmderi, researchers looked at properties in the Cardiff area - and for BBC Scotland drama River City they looked at property values in Glasgow.

Craig Calder, director of Barclays Mortgages, said: "It is remarkable to see that the continued increase in value of London properties means a typical resident would be able to purchase multiple properties in less expensive regions across the country."

Here is the typical value of a typical brick in a property in various soap locations, according to calculations by Cebr:

1. EastEnders (East London), £148.82

2. Emmerdale (Yorkshire Dales), £49.43

3. Hollyoaks (Chester), £35.84

4. Coronation Street (Salford), £26.51

5. River City (Glasgow), £22.55

6. Pobol y Cwm (Cardiff), £20.75