Sale and rental prices in England
What are the most expensive and most affordable areas in England to buy and rent? In this post we explore this question based on asking prices in the UK’s most popular online real estate portals (Rightmove, Zoopla, and Openrent) in December 2021.
To buy
| Most expensive to buy in England | ||
| Areas | Postcode Sector | Price (£) |
| Marylebone, Westminster | W1U 2 | 6,358,440 |
| Belgravia, Knightsbridge, Westminster | SW1X 7 | 5,535,217 |
| Mayfair (north), Grosvenor Square, Westminster | W1K 2 | 5,299,500 |
| Marylebone, Westminster | W1U 4 | 4,685,552 |
| Knightsbridge | SW1X 8 | 4,126,774 |
| Mayfair (north), Grosvenor Square, Westminster | W1K 7 | 3,956,923 |
| South Kensington, Knightsbridge, Kensington and Chelsea | SW7 1 | 3,593,833 |
| South Kensington, Knightsbridge, Kensington and Chelsea | SW7 2 | 3,530,294 |
| Mayfair (south), Piccadilly, Royal Academy, Westminster | W1J 7 | 3,095,643 |
| Belgravia, Westminster | SW1W 9 | 3,070,962 |
England’s property market has picked up pace as lockdown restrictions ease. As you could easily guess the top 10 most expensive areas to buy in England are all in London, more specifically the West and feature areas such as Marylebone, Belgravia, Mayfair, and so on. The average asking price in each stand (on average) at a staggering 7 figures, with even the cheapest amongst them higher than the £3 million mark, almost 60 times the median salary in London.
| Least expensive to buy in England | ||
| Areas | Postcode Sector | Price (£) |
| Bradford city centre, Little Germany | BD1 2 | 39,892 |
| Easington, Easington Colliery, Horden, Little Thorpe, Peterlee, Shotton, Shotton Colliery, County Durham | SR8 4 | 47,789 |
| Bradford city centre, Little Germany | BD1 4 | 48,700 |
| Usworth, Sulgrave, Albany, Sunderland | NE37 3 | 53,016 |
| Liverpool City Centre, Edge Hill, Fairfield, Kensington | L7 3 | 56,693 |
| Brambles Farm, Thorntree, Park End, North Ormesby, Berwick Hills, Middlesbrough | TS3 6 | 57,754 |
| Thornaby, Ingleby Barwick, Stainton, Stockton-on-Tees | TS17 7 | 61,136 |
| Grimsby, Northeast Lincolnshire | DN32 7 | 64,840 |
| Bolton, Smithills, Halliwell, Heaton | BL1 1 | 65,959 |
| South Shields Town Centre, Deans, High Shields, South Tyneside | NE33 5 | 66,943 |
The least expensive areas are away from the capital. These areas are Bradford, which tops the list, Durham, Sunderland, and so on. Don’t assume there is a typo. The prices in the least expensive areas in England are 100 times less than those in the most expensive ones. Another way of saying this, is that the average house in Belgravia could afford you almost 100 houses in Bradford.
Check also our map of London average house prices.
To rent
| Most expensive rent (per month) in England | ||
| Areas | Postcode Sector | Rent (£) |
| Belgravia, Knightsbridge, Westminster | SW1X 7 | 10,533 |
| Mayfair (north), Grosvenor Square, Westminster | W1K 6 | 7,799 |
| South Kensington, Knightsbridge, Kensington and Chelsea | SW7 1 | 7,581 |
| South Kensington, Knightsbridge, Kensington and Chelsea | SW7 2 | 6,397 |
| Belgravia, Knightsbridge, Westminster | SW1X 0 | 6,378 |
| St John’s Wood, Primrose Hill, Lisson Grove, Camden | NW8 6 | 5,864 |
| Belgravia, Knightsbridge, Westminster | SW1X 8 | 5,419 |
| Mayfair (south), Piccadilly, Royal Academy, Westminster | W1J 7 | 5,253 |
| Belgravia, Knightsbridge, Westminster. | SW1X 9 | 4,964 |
| South Kensington, Knightsbridge, Kensington and Chelsea | SW7 5 | 4,889 |
How about the rental market? Again no surprises on the most expensive areas. These are all in London and all exactly the same (or very close by) areas such as those of the most expensive sales that we saw above.
| Least expensive rent (per month) in England | ||
| Areas | Postcode Sector | Price (£) |
| Anfield, Liverpool City Centre, Everton, Fairfield, Kensington, Tuebrook | L6 3 | 390 |
| Middlesborough Town Centre, Gresham, University, Abingdon, Middlesbrough | TS1 4 | 390 |
| Burnley | BB11 4 | 393 |
| Stoke, Fenton, Staffordshire | ST4 2 | 396 |
| Hull, Kingston upon Hull | HU5 1 | 418 |
| Liverpool City Centre, Edge Hill, Fairfield, Kensington | L7 2 | 423 |
| Hull, Kingston upon Hull | HU5 2 | 424 |
| Easington, Easington Colliery, Horden, Little Thorpe, Peterlee, Shotton, Shotton Colliery, County Durham | SR8 4 | 431 |
| Middlesborough Town Centre, Gresham, University, Abingdon, Middlesbrough | TS1 3 | 441 |
| Creswell, South Worksop, Whitwell, Bassetlaw | S80 2 | 462 |
The least expensive areas to rent are, as expected, outside London but differ significantly from the least expensive areas to buy. The main reason probably is that areas with low asking prices do not have much rental stock, while those with high asking prices have a much more significant rental stock.
Check also our map of London average rental prices.
Trends
What do households themselves expect to happen in house prices? Based on analysis by Knight Frank and IHS Markit the expectation is that current and future prices will be rising. As you may suspect sentiment was almost (except for the Great Financial Crisis of 2008) at an all-time low at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. Since then, expectations have been rising with a few bleeps along the way, most probably related to new variants of the virus surfacing. As for the reasons, no surprises here either; as Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, comments: “A supply/demand imbalance has produced gravity-defying UK house price growth”.
How about rental prices? At least in London, rental values are 5% up on pre-pandemic levels. With Covid-19 restrictions easing around the world and more people visiting the UK to work or study, we expect demand for rental properties to increase. This expectation is also backed up by the increased institutional investment in the Build-to-Rent sector, which toped £4.1bn in 2021 up £500 than 2020’s previous record, according to property advisory CBRE.