Follow this topicThe Cheapest And Most Expensive Places To Buy Property
What are the cheapest and most expensive places to buy property in the UK?
It has been voted one of the top 10 worst places to live in the UK consistently for the past three years by Channel 4. Unemployment is at almost twice the national average and almost a third of the population have a long-term illness.
But Merthyr Tydfil, an industrial valley town in south Wales, has undergone the biggest increase in house prices over the past five years, according to Halifax Estate Agents. Since 2002, prices per square metre of property in the town have risen at the fastest pace in the UK, rocketing up by more than 203% - that's almost three times the UK average of 69%.
Biggest Price Increases (%) 2002-2007
Post Town/Borough | Region | Average House Price 2007 £ | Price per M2 (£)2002 | Price per M2 (£)2007 | 5 Year % | 5 Year £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Merthyr Tydfil | Wales | £127,817 | £439 | £1,331 | 203% | £892 |
Craigavon | N. Ireland | £247,055 | £664 | £1,900 | 186% | £1,237 |
Ballymena | N. Ireland | £240,543 | £660 | £1,850 | 180% | £1,190 |
Lisburn | N. Ireland | £262,312 | £855 | £2,168 | 154% | £1,313 |
Newtownabbey | N. Ireland | £207,284 | £821 | £2,032 | 148% | £1,211 |
Irvine | Scotland | £134,357 | £534 | £1,280 | 140% | £746 |
Carrickfergus | N. Ireland | £231,556 | £779 | £1,867 | 140% | £1,089 |
Londonderry | N. Ireland | £202,246 | £654 | £1,556 | 138% | £902 |
Belfast | N. Ireland | £226,824 | £970 | £2,291 | 136% | £1,321 |
Aberdeen | Scotland | £200,393 | £910 | £2,132 | 134% | £1,222 |
Source: Halifax
As this table shows, not a single English town features in the top 10 performing towns over the past five years. Instead, the list is dominated by towns in Northern Ireland, which has seen particularly huge increases in the past year.
It is interesting to note that, five years ago, Merthyr Tydfil was among the 10 cheapest places in the UK to buy property, per square metre. Back then, the ten least expensive UK towns all had an average property price of less than £600 per square metre.
This average has nearly doubled in five years, as the current list of the cheapest places to buy in the UK looks like this:
Least Expensive Towns in the UK in 2007
Post Town/Borough | County/Area | Region | Price per M2 (£) |
|---|---|---|---|
Wishaw | Lanarkshire | Scotland | £1,128 |
Peterlee | County Durham | North | £1,135 |
Sutton In Ashfield | Nottinghamshire | East Midlands | £1,187 |
Blackburn | Lancashire | North West | £1,208 |
Llanelli | Dyfed | Wales | £1,223 |
Accrington | Lancashire | North West | £1,226 |
Airdrie | Lanarkshire | Scotland | £1,242 |
Barrow In Furness | Cumbria | North | £1,255 |
Carluke | Lanarkshire | Scotland | £1,256 |
Scunthorpe | South Humberside | Yorkshire and the Humber | £1,256 |
Source: Halifax
As the table shows, Wishaw in Lanarkshire had the lowest average price (£1,128 per square metre) of all UK towns in the UK.
You would have to pay almost eight times this sum if you wanted to buy a home in the most expensive area of the UK, Kensington & Chelsea. There, property sells for a whopping £8,386 per square metre - an increase of £5,033 per square metre since 2002.
In fact, when it comes to the ten most expensive towns in the UK, Londoners will not be surprised to learn that the list is exactly the same as it was five years ago - entirely made up of London boroughs:
Most Expensive Towns in the UK in 2007
Post Town/Borough | Region | Price per M2 (£) |
|---|---|---|
Kensington and Chelsea | Greater London | £8,386 |
Westminster | Greater London | £6,893 |
Camden | Greater London | £6,092 |
Hammersmith and Fulham | Greater London | £5,605 |
Islington | Greater London | £5,085 |
Wandsworth | Greater London | £4,871 |
Richmond upon Thames | Greater London | £4,646 |
Tower Hamlets | Greater London | £4,387 |
Southwark | Greater London | £4,315 |
Lambeth | Greater London | £4,080 |
Source: Halifax
Similarly, on a global scale, London is the most expensive city in the world per square metre of property. You would pay £9,805 per square metre for an "upper end of the market" apartment in London - 24% more than you would pay in New York, where property costs just £7,919 per square metre, and 27% more than Moscow, where property costs £7,720 per square metre.
Average Prices in Major Global Cities (2008)
Ranking | City | Prices(£), per M2 |
|---|---|---|
1 | London* | 9,805 |
2 | New York | 7,919 |
3 | Moscow | 7,720 |
4 | Paris | 6,872 |
5 | Hong Kong | 6,262 |
6 | Tokyo | 5,900 |
7 | Singapore | 5,865 |
8 | Mumbai | 5,081 |
9 | Barcelona | 4,906 |
10 | Geneva | 3,745 |
Source: Global Property Guide
* The average of London (prime) and London (other luxury) per square metre (sq. m.) prices.
Interestingly, while prices remain high in South East England, nine of the 10 towns that suffered the smallest increases in price since 2002 are all in the South East.
Smallest Price Increases (%) 2002-2007
Post Town/Borough | Region | Average House Price 2007 £ | Price per M2 (£)2002 | Price per M2 (£)2007 | 5 Year % | 5 Year £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Camberley | Surrey | South East | £1,988 | £2,577 | 30% | £589 |
Waltham Cross | Hertfordshire | South East | £1,961 | £2,553 | 30% | £592 |
Hoddesdon | Hertfordshire | South East | £1,825 | £2,378 | 30% | £554 |
Waterlooville | Hampshire | South East | £1,589 | £2,086 | 31% | £497 |
Southsea | Hampshire | South East | £1,404 | £1,844 | 31% | £440 |
Aldershot | Hampshire | South East | £1,791 | £2,372 | 32% | £581 |
Swindon | Wilts | South West | £1,366 | £1,813 | 33% | £447 |
Fleet | Hampshire | South East | £2,097 | £2,791 | 33% | £694 |
Borehamwood | Hertfordshire | South East | £2,198 | £2,931 | 33% | £733 |
Reading | Berkshire | South East | £2,004 | £2,704 | 35% | £699 |
Source: Halifax
This huge divergence in the performance of property prices over the same five-year period - from a 203% jump in Merthyr Tydfil to a 30% rise in Camberley - demonstrates just how important it is to look at house prices on a local level.
In this way, as I explained in The Truth About House Prices, believing everything you read about data from house price indices - which mainly look at the UK average - can be a serious mistake. It is a good idea to get an overall picture of the market, but if you don't research the local market as well, you could find you have made a very expensive error of judgement.
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