When searching for a new home or moving house, there is a lot to be said for a place name. Certain place names are seen as desirable for example Alwoodley in Leeds or Ilkley in Bradford and others can be seen as opportunities to find a good deal in an up and coming area. Other place names can come synonymous with other things such as Headingley and the student population and sports venues, Otley and its varieties of pubs or Yeadon with Leeds Bradford Airport.

Of course, these place names have an impact on your house in terms of the areas being desirable for one reason or another. But what about when it comes down to the more unique place names in Yorkshire? The Yorkshire Post worked with estate agents Marcus Alderson to investigate whether towns and villages with unusual place names has an impact on the value of homes in the area, regardless of the location.

Yorkshire and the north is rich with unusual place names. The Yorkshire Post article suggests that unique names might be favourable providing they sound pleasant. Whether its tongue twisters such as Ugglebarnby near York or Arkengarthdale near Richmond. Every day words used as place names such as Jump near Barnsley, or unusual sounding ones that are translations from old meanings such as Wetwang near Driffield are also seen as possibly favourable.

But when you have unusual place names that are possibly rude or have negative connotations then it may have a detrimental effect on housing prices despite actually being in nothing but fantastic locations. Some examples being Bedlam near Harrogate or Slack Bottom near Hebden Bridge, both of which tick all the boxes of being a desirable areas to buy a new home and live happily but buyers might be put off simply by the name of the village or town.

All of these pale in to insignificance compared to Scratchy Bottom or Shitterton, both in Dorset, which were voted as “Britain’s worst place names” in 2012.