Being superstitious about the number 13 might be irrational - but this number is responsible for an average £4,000 loss in house values compared to similar properties in the same road. Recent research shows number 13 houses are typically worth £4,000 less than identical, neighbouring properties.
Unbelievably, such is the level of mistrust in the number 13 that a third of British streets do not have one. The number 13 has long been associated with bad luck, even having its own, official, phobia - triskaidekaphobia.
Some British councils allow house builders to leave the number 13 out on new developments. Lewes District Council in East Sussex, for example, say the number can be excluded if 'specifically requested'.
The findings on home value come in research from property website Zoopla.co.uk, who say that house hunters looking for anew home, and aren't particularly bothered about the number 13, can "secure a great bargain by purchasing a number 13 house," according to Nicholas Leeming, Zoopla's business development director.
But the same research established that the average number 13 property in Britain was valued at £205,085, whereas identical properties at numbers 11, 12, 14 or 15 was £209,009. That equates to a Number 13 Penalty of £3,924.
There are many reasons why the number 13 is seen as unlucky in many countries. One popular theory is that there were 13 people at Jesus's last supper - Christ and his 12 apostles - one of whom betrayed him. There are also many more myths about Friday 13th - including the one that says if you cut someone's hair on the 13th, someone in your family will die. Others say a child born on the 13th will be unlucky for life.
Another theory, regarding Friday 13th relates to what's been defined as a catastrophe, which was a single historical event of around 700 years ago. This catastrophe relates to the final battle of the Knights Templar, a group of so called "warrior monks" formed during the Christian Crusades to combat Islam. Because of it's reputation of a victorious fighting force for the previous 200 years, by the 1300s the order had grown so much that it was perceived as a political threat by kings and popes alike and brought down by a church-state conspiracy.
Even Britain's most famous street - Downing Street - hasn't escaped the 13th curse. Like an amazing 28 per cent of streets in Britain, there is no number 13 there. It used to have a door with number 13 on it, but that disappeared over one hundred years ago in a fire.
Number 13 had become the last house in the row following the demolition of number 14 in 1876. But it was badly damaged in a blaze only three years later. The house was rebuilt, but renumbered as 12 although it is not known - at least not documented anyway - if this was because of the bad luck associated with the property. Number 12, Downing Street, now houses the Prime Minister's Press Office, Strategic Communications Unit and Information and Research Unit.
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