Homeowners in the East and West Midlands have seen the biggest increase in the price of their properties which have risen in value by more than 25 per cent per square foot, new data has revealed today.
Family homes in the East Midlands have risen in value with a price per sq ft of £212 – an increase of some 25.4 per cent in the past four years – while the West Midlands has seen an increase of £44, or 24.6 per cent.
Homes in the district of Merthyr Tydfil in Wales have also seen a massive jump, with the price per sq ft now standing at £123, up 38.2 per cent in four years, according to the research by Zoopla.
The Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire and the Tameside region in Greater Manchester have also shot up in price in recent years.
Maintaining its place as the most affluent borough in the country, ranking first place with the most expensive family homes is Kensington and Chelsea, with London’s exclusive enclave commanding a premium of £1,936 per sq ft.
Family homes in the East Midlands have risen in value with a price per sq ft of £212 – an increase of some 25.4 per cent in the past four years – while the West Midlands comes in second place with an increase of £44, or 24.6 per cent
LONDON: Looking at family homes with the most expensive price per sq ft, Kensington and Chelsea in London ranks in first place, with a premium price of £1,936 per sq ft. This four bed terraced home in Kensington is on the market for £3,800,000
SURREY: This six bed detached home in Weybridge is on the market for £6,250,000
| Region | 2020 Price per Sq Ft for | 2016 Price per Sq Ft for | Price difference (£) | Percentage change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| family house | family house | |||
| East Midlands | £212 | £169 | £43 | 25.40% |
| West Midlands | £223 | £179 | £44 | 24.60% |
| Wales | £178 | £144 | £34 | 23.60% |
| East of England | £323 | £266 | £57 | 21.40% |
| North West | £194 | £160 | £34 | 21.30% |
| South West | £279 | £231 | £48 | 20.80% |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | £178 | £148 | £30 | 20.30% |
| South East | £364 | £312 | £52 | 16.70% |
| London | £558 | £487 | £71 | 14.60% |
| Scotland | £142 | £124 | £18 | 14.50% |
| North East | £171 | £156 | £15 | 9.60% |
For buyers prioritising space, Scotland offers the overall best value for money with £142 being the average price per sq ft of a family home.
In England, the North East offers the best value for money for families, with an average price per sq ft of £171.
At a local authority level, family homes in the district of Merthyr Tydfil in Wales have seen the biggest gains, with the price per sq ft now standing at £123, an increase of £34 (38.2%) in four years.
In second place is the district of the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, well known for its historic woodland. The price per sq foot for a family home in this area has increased to £233, representing an increase of £64 in the last four years (37.9%).
In third place is the Tameside region in Greater Manchester, where the price per sq ft stands at £197, an increase of £52 (35.9%).
Several local authorities in the Midlands feature in the top ten list including Nottingham, Birmingham, Sandwell and Ashfield.
With its embassies, mega mansions and neighbours including Tamara Ecclestone, Kensington Palace Gardens continues to hold the title for the priciest street in Britain.
London has driven a 7.6 per cent national rise in house prices after the average property in the capital surpassed £500,000 for the first time.
In the UK as a whole, the average price of a home rose to a record £249,633 in November, up from £231,100 a year earlier, said the Office for National Statistics.
In London there was an even sharper rise of almost 10 per cent, which experts said was fuelled by foreign buyers seeking to beat the end of the stamp duty holiday and the introduction of new taxes in April.
In the city, a typical property now costs £513,997 – up from £468,757 and another record.
The biggest increase of any London borough during November was in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average price rose 28.6 per cent to a staggering £1.5million.
Coming second in London’s boroughs is Westminster, commanding £1,649 per sq ft of property, followed by Camden in third place, at £1,120 per sq ft.
Southwark has seen the biggest increase in price per sq ft over the past four years, increasing from £666 in 2016, to £760 in 2020, an increase of £94 or 14.1 per cent.
Outside of London, Elmbridge in Surrey leads the way, with an average price per sq ft of £591, an increase of £63 (11.9 per cent) since 2016.
Locations near Areas of Outstanding National Beauty also feature in the list, with family homes in the Mole Valley having a price per sq ft of £508, up £63 since 2016 (14.2%).
Chiltern also features, with family homes commanding a price of £496 per sq ft – up a substantial £70 since 2016.
Gráinne Gilmore, Head of Research at Zoopla said: ‘From our research, it’s clear that the price per sq ft of family homes varies hugely across the country.
‘Although there has been an increase in the price per sq footage of properties in all regions of the UK, there are still pockets of the country with more affordable housing, while areas located in commuting distance from larger cities or near Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty are likely to command a premium.’
MANCHESTER: This four bed home in Tameside is accepting offers in the region of £535,000
| Local Authority | Region | 2020 Price per Sq Ft for | 2016 Price per Sq Ft for | Price difference (£) | Percentage change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| family house | family house | ||||
| Kensington and Chelsea | London | £1,936 | £1,878 | £58 | 3.10% |
| Westminster | London | £1,649 | £1,723 | -£74 | -4.30% |
| Camden | London | £1,120 | £1,034 | £86 | 8.30% |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | London | £1,010 | £1,050 | -£40 | -3.80% |
| Islington | London | £966 | £959 | £7 | 0.70% |
| Wandsworth | London | £837 | £786 | £51 | 6.50% |
| Hackney | London | £815 | £755 | £60 | 7.90% |
| Richmond upon Thames | London | £783 | £719 | £64 | 8.90% |
| Southwark | London | £760 | £666 | £94 | 14.10% |
| Tower Hamlets | London | £717 | £645 | £72 | 11.20% |
FOREST OF DEAN: This two bed semi-detached house is on the market for £195,000. The price per sq foot for a family home in this area has increased to £233, representing an increase of £64 in the last four years (37.9%)
SCOTLAND: For buyers prioritising space, Scotland offers the overall best value for money with £142 being the average price per sq ft of a family home. This two bed flat in Saltcoats is up for sale for £53,000
Biggest house price jump for FIVE YEARS: London leads the way with average home worth £500,000… and outside the capital the value has soared to £250,000
By Matt Oliver City Correspondent for the Daily Mail
London has driven a 7.6 per cent national rise in house prices after the average property in the capital surpassed £500,000 for the first time.
In the UK as a whole, the average price of a home rose to a record £249,633 in November, up from £231,100 a year earlier, said the Office for National Statistics.
It was the highest annual rate of growth since the Brexit referendum in June 2016.
And in London there was an even sharper rise of almost 10 per cent, which experts said was fuelled by foreign buyers seeking to beat the end of the stamp duty holiday and the introduction of new taxes in April.
In the city, a typical property now costs £513,997 – up from £468,757 and another record.
London has driven a 7.6 per cent national rise in house prices after the average property in the capital surpassed £500,000 for the first time
Jonathan Hopper, chief executive of Garrington Property Finders, said the market was ‘passing more milestones than a car in the fast lane’.
He added: ‘The blistering annual price growth recorded in November is a huge leap on the rate seen in October.’
But he warned that price growth could now slow, with the January lockdown leaving the market ‘more like a parked car, with the handbrake on but the engine revving loudly’.
The biggest increase of any London borough during November was in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average price rose 28.6 per cent to a staggering £1.5million.
There were also big increases in other parts of England. Prices in Yorkshire and the Humber rose by 9.7 per cent, while they rose 8.5 per cent in the South West and North West and by 8.3 per cent in the North East.
The ONS said the market had been boosted by Rishi Sunak’s stamp duty holiday, pent-up demand following the national lockdown and ‘changes in housing preferences’ caused by the pandemic, with many families seeking more spacious homes.
This was underlined by figures showing that while UK prices for flats and maisonettes were up annually by 5.4 per cent, prices for detached houses had jumped 8.5 per cent.
But while some families have ditched big cities for more rural areas, the ONS said that changes to taxes for foreign buyers in April are likely to have boosted demand in the capital as well.
In the UK as a whole, the average price of a home rose to a record £249,633 in November, up from £231,100 a year earlier, said the Office for National Statistics
Mike Scott, chief analyst at estate agent Yopa, said: ‘The tax saving is much higher on more expensive properties and so there is more urgency around purchases of more expensive homes.’
However, Pantheon Macroeconomics economist Samuel Tombs said the withdrawal of the furlough scheme, mortgage payment holidays and the return of the stamp duty threshold to former levels was likely to leave prices about 2 per cent lower by the end of the year.
Howard Archer, chief economic adviser to the EY Item Club, said the drop could be as big as 5 per cent.
Nick Leeming, chairman of estate agent Jackson-Stops, said: ‘The market was firing on all cylinders in November. I do urge the Chancellor to consider how to ease the market out of the stamp duty holiday to avoid the cliff-edge Government has created.’
RUTH SUNDERLAND: There’s hope this house price boom may be far from over
Commentary by RUTH SUNDERLAND BUSINESS EDITOR FOR THE DAILY MAIL
COVID-19 has caused more damage to the UK economy than any other crisis in living memory, yet the housing market is booming. So why is this happening and equally important, can it continue?
The pandemic forced many of us into stay-at-home lifestyles, which made people discontented with their existing properties and keen to move to a bigger and better place.
Crucially, many middle-class professionals can afford to turn those desires into reality, having hung on to their jobs and racked up large sums in lockdown savings.
On top of that, there is a large element of pent-up demand because the market was shut during the first lockdown in the spring. Buyers rushed back in the minute it re-opened.
COVID-19 has caused more damage to the UK economy than any other crisis in living memory, yet the housing market is booming. So why is this happening and equally important, can it continue?
Add into the mix Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s stamp duty holiday and interest rates at near to zero – the main Bank of England rate was slashed to 0.1 per cent in response to the virus – and you have a recipe for a surge in house prices.
The detailed picture is intriguing. Surprisingly, at least for those commentators forecasting an exodus from London in favour of working from home from a bucolic idyll, prices in the capital have soared to a record high.
Increases in some exclusive enclaves such as Kensington and Chelsea, where a townhouse will cost you nearly 30 per cent more than a year ago, are driven by special circumstances.
These include the flight to the UK of wealthy individuals from Hong Kong, along with the rush among rich international buyers to beat a new additional rate of stamp duty which is due to be slapped on non-UK residents from April.
Add into the mix Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s stamp duty holiday and interest rates at near to zero – the main Bank of England rate was slashed to 0.1 per cent in response to the virus – and you have a recipe for a surge in house prices
But the robust performance in more ordinary boroughs suggests that so long as power and influence are concentrated in London, it will remain a honeypot for the ambitious and talented.
So much for predictions the capital will morph into a ghost town, hollowed out by Covid.
Some analysts argue rises of this order are unsustainable and that we are riding for a fall. The economy in their view is being artificially propped up by government support.
When the furlough scheme ends, unemployment will shoot up, launching a torpedo at property prices. There are also fears the end of the stamp duty holiday could hit values.
Increases in some exclusive enclaves such as Kensington and Chelsea, where a townhouse will cost you nearly 30 per cent more than a year ago, are driven by special circumstances
The EY Item Club, which bases its forecasting on Treasury models, is predicting a 5 per cent fall by the end of this year, as does respected think tank the Centre for Economic and Business Research.
But if the vaccine roll-out is successful and the economy is brought out of the deep-freeze, the market may well prove the pessimists wrong, as it has consistently over the last 30 years.
Mortgages are likely to remain affordable and interest rates are not expected to be hiked any time soon – indeed, they may even fall further.
And, with returns on savings virtually non-existent, for many property will continue to look like an attractive investment.
Rising house prices are a mixed blessing because they make it harder for young people to put a foot on the ladder.
But taken in the round, it is a very good thing indeed that the property market, the bedrock of the UK economy, has proved so resilient – and the Chancellor should extend the stamp duty holiday to help keep it that way.