New research has revealed that property prices per square metre in the UK have increased by an average of 251% over the past two decades to £2,216.
According to Halifax, the biggest increases have been in London, where property prices per square metre have jumped by a whopping 432%.
The borough of Kensington and Chelsea remains Britain’s most expensive neighbourhood, with an average price of £11,321 per square metre, more than five times the national average.
A total of 17 areas in Greater London have an average price in excess of £5,000 per square metres.
Solihull, West Midlands is the most expensive town outside southern England, while Airdrie in Scotland has the lowest average price per square metre.
Five areas outside southern England fetch a higher property price per square metre than the national average – Solihull and Leamington Spa in West Midlands, Altrincham in the North West, Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh and Harrogate in Yorkshire.
There has been a substantial gap widening in property prices per square metre between southern England and the rest of Britain over the past 20 years. This has continued since 2011 with London gains nearly double that of the rest of the country.
Half of the 10 most expensive towns outside southern England are in the West Midlands. Solihull, with an average price of £2,661 per square metre and Leamington Spa (£2,645) are the two most expensive towns. The other West Midlands towns that made the top 10 include Sutton Coldfield (£2,113), Bromsgrove (£1,970) and Stourbridge (£1,943).
House price per square metre can be a useful comparison measure as it helps to adjust for differences in the size and type of properties between locations.
Chris Gowland, mortgages director, Halifax, said: “We have seen the average price per square metre increase by 251% over the past 20 years from £631 in 1996 to £2,216 in 2016, although this national figure does conceal considerable regional differences.
“In particular, there has been a marked widening in the North/South property divide over the past two decades as prices per square metre have risen by 432% over this period in Greater London – more than twice the increase in areas outside of southern England.”
Jeremy Leaf, a former RICS chairman and north London estate, said: “Price per square foot or per square metre can be a useful guide to property prices. But it can also be very misleading unless you find out how the space is distributed. It may be all corridors and landings, rather than bedrooms, and not much evenly distributed or useful space at all, which isn’t of much practical use to the buyer.
“Like so many other statistics describing the housing market, such figures need to be put into context as they can be very misleading when read in isolation. Price per square foot reflects all sorts of considerations such as location, oversize or undersize, what the property is overlooking, whether it is new or old, whether it needs work or is in good condition, and other factors which can distort the overall picture.”
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