London has the most expensive property locations in Britain on a per square metre basis with Hackney seeing a rise of 753% since 1997 to £6,942, the latest research shows.
Over the past 20 years, property prices per square meter in southern England have risen significantly ahead of the rest of Britain, with prices growing by 402% in Greater London compared with a national increase of 236%.
Overall the national average is £2,260 and outside the south of England Altrincham, Sale and Cheadle in the North West, and the West Midlands towns of Leamington Spa and Solihull are the most expensive, according to the survey from home lender the Halifax.
Nine of the 10 areas that have seen the biggest increases over the last 20 years are in London, with Hove the only other town to make the list. Outside southern England, 12 towns have recorded price gains in excess of the national average since 1997.
In the last five years alone, house prices per square meter have risen by 34%, with all regions experiencing growth of at least 12%. The London borough of Waltham Forest saw the largest growth since 2012 at 93%. Greater London has experienced substantially faster growth than elsewhere in Britain with its average increase of 57%, almost five times that in Scotland at 12%.
‘House price per square metre can be a useful measure for house price comparison as it helps to adjust for differences in the size and type of properties between locations,’ said Russell Galley, managing director of the Halifax.
‘While there are parts of central London that are substantially more expensive than anywhere else in the country, we can see a number of notable pockets emerging outside the South of England, particularly in the West Midlands and North West,’ he pointed out.
‘Over the last 20 years the gap between southern England, particularly London, and the rest of the country has increased substantially, a trend that has continued during the last five years,’ he added.
Kensington and Chelsea remains Britain’s most expensive area with an average price of £11,192 per square meter and despite dropping 1% since last year, the borough is nearly five times the national average and the only area in Britain with an average price above £10,000 per square meter.
Some 20 areas, all in Greater London, have an average price in excess of £5,000 per square meter, five more than last year with Barnet, Kingston upon Thames, Lewisham, Waltham Forest and Harrow all joining the list.
Of the 10 most expensive towns outside southern England, Altrincham in the North West is the most expensive with an average price of £2,834 per square meter, with only York at £2,233 having an average price per square meter below the national average of £2,260.
The research also found that only two towns in Britain had an average price below £1,000 per square meter. Port Talbot in Wales is the least expensive town with an average price at £983 per square meter, followed by Nelson in the North West at £998. Six of the 10 towns with the lowest prices per square metre are outside England, with four in Wales and two in Scotland.
