Unlucky housebuilders not allowed to skip Number 13

A group of local authorities in Lincolnshire have banned property developers from missing out the (unlucky for some) Number 13 on new housing projects.

Homes bearing the number are still avoided by some superstitious buyers.

But South Holland District Council (SHDC), East Lindsey District Council and Boston Borough Council now say developers should not avoid using the number.

However, Mark Foster, director at Lincoln-based Lindum Homes, said it was still common practice for planning authorities not to allow the number.

A joint Street Naming and Numbering Policy document published by the councils last month states that the Number 13 "is to be used in the proper sequence and no sanction should be given to its avoidance".

SHDC confirmed this meant there were "no circumstances when builders will be allowed to avoid using number 13".

Mr Foster said another Lincolnshire authority, North Kesteven District Council, did not allow the use of the number unless "a developer is insistent".

Last year, property website Rightmove found that Number 13 homes were valued an average of about £5,000 lower than other homes.

It analysed more than 10 million homes numbered between 1 and 100.

Referring to the latest decision, Mr Foster said: "It is quite uncommon for a local authority to come out and be categoric in that way.

"Most local authorities are the opposite to that."

An SHDC spokesperson said the use of Number 13 in housing developments in the district was already in place and the document just turned that "practice into policy".

"Where objections persist, [they] can be lodged with the magistrates' court," they said.

"The council may depart from the policy where justifiable but will document that decision and the reasons why."

Traces of where the superstition began can be found in Christianity, with the 13th guest at the Last Supper – Judas Iscariot – being the disciple who betrayed Jesus.

In Norse mythology, another 13th guest at a dinner – Loki – tricked one of Odin's sons into killing another.

The "unluckiness" of the number has been reinforced more recently in popular culture, such as in the film Friday the 13th, Cardiff University lecturer Dr Juliette Wood previously told the BBC.