House prices by region: all ten regions of England & Wales, per square metre

The most expensive region of England & Wales sells for 3.3 times the cheapest, per square metre. London’s median is £6,570/m² against £3,380/m² for the two countries together, and the eight regions between the ends are where most people actually buy. This guide takes the ten one at a time: the median, how far it has moved in ten years, and the most expensive and best-value district in each, from HM Land Registry sold prices matched to EPC floor areas over the 12 months to August 2026.

One rule first. A region is a place to start, not a place to price a home. Every regional median below is a median over hundreds of districts that differ from each other by more than the regions differ from one another, which is why each section ends with the district pages rather than with a verdict. For the national series behind all ten, and the districts that rose and fell most over the decade, the 2026 trends article is the companion to this one.

Which regions are most and least expensive per square metre?

Two things worth noticing. The ten-year column is the median district’s change, computed for every district in the region and then read at the middle, so it says what the typical district did rather than what the average pound did; London’s figure, for instance, is the middle of 219 districts. And the last two columns are picked at the floor the league tables use, at least 100 matched sales, so a district with a handful of sales cannot top its region on a fluke.

London and the South East: how far does the capital’s price reach?

London is the outlier the table is built around: £6,570/m² at the median, with the typical district up 11.4% over ten years against up 35.4% for the typical district nationally. The range inside the capital is wider than the range between all the other regions: from SW3, Chelsea at £15,600/m² to DA8, Northumberland Heath in Erith at £4,420/m². A busy district such as E17, Walthamstow publishes £7,740/m² from 794 matched sales. The London article walks the capital district by district and reads the real-terms series for each; the region’s league tables are most expensive, best value and biggest risers.

The South East is where London’s price goes to thin out: £4,350/m² at the median, the typical district up 23.2% in ten years. Its most expensive district at the floor is KT7, Thames Ditton at £7,350/m², a London rate a train ride out, and its best value is PO37, Luccombe in Shanklin at £2,710/m². The coast is not the cheap end here: BN3, Hove publishes £5,670/m² from 880 matched sales, and SL6, Maidenhead £5,380/m² from 752. League tables: most expensive, best value and biggest risers.

The East of England and the South West: what does the commuter belt or the coast cost?

The East of England runs from the edge of London to the Norfolk coast and prices accordingly: £3,950/m² at the median, the typical district up 27.7% over ten years. The spread is from AL5, Bower Heath in Harpenden at £6,960/m² down to NR30, Caister on Sea in Great Yarmouth at £1,880/m². Two of its busiest districts: CM1, Chelmsford at £4,630/m² over 617 matched sales, and LU7, Leighton Buzzard at £4,200/m² over 762. League tables: most expensive, best value and biggest risers.

The South West is a region where the sold-price record is shaped by who is buying as much as by who lives there: £3,550/m² at the median, the typical district up 36.8% in ten years, with BS8, Clifton in Bristol at £5,450/m² at the top of the floor and PL4, Mutley in Plymouth at £2,150/m² at the bottom. BA2, Bath publishes £4,760/m² from 600 matched sales; BH23, Christchurch, £4,430/m² from 714. League tables: most expensive, best value and biggest risers.

The Midlands: where does a year’s pay go furthest?

The two Midlands regions are close on price and closer on what a salary buys. The East Midlands publishes £2,810/m² at the median, which means a year of the region’s median full-time pay buys about 12.7 m²; the typical district is up 43.6% over ten years. Its extremes at the floor are NN12, Silverstone in Towcester at £4,000/m² and DN21, Kirton Lindsey in Gainsborough at £1,970/m². NG5, Arnold in Nottingham is one of the most-traded districts in the country at £2,740/m² over 852 matched sales; LE2, Oadby in Leicester publishes £3,070/m² over 754. League tables: most expensive, best value and biggest risers.

The West Midlands publishes £3,000/m², or about 12.4 m² for a year of median pay, with the typical district up 46.7% in ten years. The top of the region at the floor is B93, Knowle in Solihull at £5,090/m²; the bottom is ST1, Sneyd Green in Stoke-On-Trent at £1,790/m². In between, CV6, Coventry publishes £2,730/m² from 652 matched sales and ST5, Newcastle-under-Lyme £2,420/m² from 774. League tables: most expensive, best value and biggest risers.

The North: which regions have moved most in ten years?

The three northern regions are where a small base makes a modest cash rise a large percentage, which is worth holding in mind as you read their ten-year column. The North West publishes £2,650/m² at the median, its typical district up 51.0% over ten years, and it contains both WA15, Timperley in Altrincham at £4,950/m² and FY1, Blackpool at £1,160/m², a wider gap than most regions manage. M33, Sale publishes £4,320/m² over 649 matched sales; PR2, Fulwood in Preston, £2,380/m² over 597. League tables: most expensive, best value and biggest risers.

Yorkshire and The Humber publishes £2,550/m², the typical district up 45.6% in ten years, from YO23, Copmanthorpe in York at £4,160/m² to DN32, Old Clee in Grimsby at £1,200/m². S6, Sheffield publishes £2,780/m² over 646 matched sales and DN4, Doncaster £2,230/m² over 593. League tables: most expensive, best value and biggest risers.

The North East publishes £2,020/m² at the median, with the typical district up 35.5% over ten years. Its top at the floor is NE26, Seaton Sluice in Whitley Bay at £3,300/m² and its bottom DL4, Old Eldon in Shildon at £980/m². NE3, Gosforth in Newcastle publishes £2,840/m² from 564 matched sales; DL3, Darlington, £1,960/m² from 505. League tables: most expensive, best value and biggest risers.

Wales: how different is the market west of the border?

Less than the border suggests. Wales publishes £2,530/m² at the median, with the typical district up 52.3% over ten years, and its spread runs from CF64, Sully in Penarth at £3,700/m² to CF40, Trealaw in Tonypandy at £1,550/m². The two cities carry most of the volume: CF14, Llanishen in Cardiff publishes £3,650/m² over 709 matched sales, and NP19, Newport £2,400/m² over 584. One thing the border does change is the tax: a Welsh purchase pays Land Transaction Tax rather than stamp duty, which the cost-of-buying article works through. League tables: most expensive, best value and biggest risers.

How should you read a regional median?

As a median of districts, not as a price. Three habits keep it honest. First, remember that the busiest districts weigh most: a region’s figure is pulled towards its cities because that is where the sales are, so a rural buyer should expect to sit below it and a city buyer above. Second, use the middle 60% band on each region page, the range between the 20th and 80th percentile of sales, before the median; it says how much of the region sells anywhere near the headline. Third, treat the ten-year column as a description of the typical district and not a forecast, and read it in real terms before you call it growth; the trends article does that for the well-traded cohort and counts how many of them fell. If your figures are in square feet, the unit article converts every rate on this page. The pillar article takes the same table down to the four steps for judging any single figure.

Every figure on this page, national, regional and district alike, is read from the current dataset as the page is built, currently August 2026, so a figure here and the region or district page it links to cannot disagree. Everything is rebuilt monthly from HM Land Registry sold prices matched to EPC floor areas, and the glossary defines every term used here.