AL5 vs IP14: house prices per square metre compared
AL5 (Bower Heath) has a median of £6,960 per m² against £3,200 in IP14 (Stowupland). AL5 is the more expensive of the two: IP14 is 54.0% cheaper per m². The figures come from 327 and 436 matched sales in the last 12 months of HM Land Registry data.
£795,000, the median sale price in AL5, buys about 114 m² there and about 248 m² in IP14, a difference of 134 m² at each district’s own median. Over the 10 years to Q1 2026, IP14 moved +2.7% a year against AL5 at +2.1% a year, before inflation.
Sales in the last 12 months.
| Measure | AL5High confidence Bower Heath, Harpenden £6,960median per m² | IP14High confidence Stowupland, Stowmarket £3,200median per m² | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median price per m² | £6,960 | £3,200 | −54.0% |
| Median sale price | £795,000 | £280,000 | −64.8% |
| Middle 60% of salesp20 to p80 | £5,820–£8,270 | £2,670–£3,700 | |
| Sales (last 12 months) | 354 | 569 | +215 |
| With a matched floor areaThe denominator behind each median per unit area | 327 | 436 | +109 |
| Mean floor area (matched sales) | 132 m² | 99 m² | −25.4% |
| Annual change over 9.8 years | +2.1% a year | +2.7% a year | +0.6 pts |
| New-build premium | n/a | +9.9% | n/a |
| By property typeMedian price per m² for each property type sold in the last 12 months. | |||
| Detached | £7,710n = 109 | £3,420n = 180 | −55.6% |
| Semi-detached | £7,120n = 100 | £3,170n = 128 | −55.5% |
| Terraced | £6,970n = 59 | £3,000n = 95 | −57.0% |
| Flat | £5,280n = 59 | £2,450n = 33 | −53.6% |
| Difference: AL5 minus IP14. | |||
| All AL5 sold prices | All IP14 sold prices |
Each trend line is that district’s own quarterly median price per square metre, scaled to its own range: compare directions, not heights. Gaps are quarters with too few matched sales to publish a median.
Frequently asked questions
Why compare AL5 and IP14 on price per square metre rather than price?
A raw sale price mostly reflects how big homes are; price per square metre corrects for size, so AL5 and IP14 can be compared on what a buyer actually gets for the money. Both figures here are medians of sold price divided by EPC floor area, from HM Land Registry sales, computed the same way for both areas.
Why do AL5 and IP14 show different numbers of sales?
The two districts are different sizes and trade at different rates, and each figure is computed over the matched sales its own area produced in its stated window. The matched-sale count is printed beside each median because it is that median's own denominator.
Compare other areas
Or browse the league tables for the most expensive and best value districts, every comparison page, or the free dataset behind these figures.
Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 · Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 · Floor areas from the Energy Performance of Buildings Register · how these figures are made