Buying a house: the UK’s most expensive postcodes

Location, location, location is crucial when it comes to buying a property; there are some areas where house prices are going to be simply out of your reach.

That remains the case, even given the potentially difficult 2023 faced by the housing market. The turmoil at the end of last year saw big increases in the interest rates charged on mortgages, which has understandably meant some buyers have paused their property buying plans. 

As a result, we have already seen a succession of house price indices report house prices are falling, with further drops expected across the year, which could eat into some of the substantial growth seen since the pandemic.

Buying and selling a property is renowned as a stressful experience, and the prospects of a potential downturn may cause you to think afresh about whether now is a good time to buy a house. 

When considering your next move, a useful place to start is the latest seller report from GetAgent, an estate agent comparison site. 

It reveals the postcodes where properties retain incredibly attractive prices for vendors, as well as those where low prices may make purchasing a property more attainable.

Colby Short, co-founder and CEO of GetAgent, says: “Despite the turbulent year of 2022 having had an adverse effect on many homeowners’ selling prices, it’s been really positive to see that sellers in many areas of the UK were able to achieve significantly more than their original asking prices.”

So where are the most and least expensive postcodes for a property?

The postcodes with the most expensive house prices

Short notes that living in a particular postcode can boost the value of your property by thousands. This might be down to falling within the catchment areas of prestigious schools, boasting good transport links for commuters, or simply having great amenities in the surrounding area.

Short adds: “Surprisingly, while you might assume that homes closer to the capital would fetch higher asking prices, our research actually shows that it’s countryside destinations that are topping the list of expensive postcodes.”

While the most expensive postcodes are dominated by areas within London, the following breakdown focuses on locations outside of the capital.

Top of the tree was the GU25 postcode, which is located in Runnymede, Surrey. Here properties have an average asking price of almost £3.3m. It’s perhaps unsurprising that it is an area in such high demand, given its proximity to London but also the stunning countryside surroundings.

It was followed by PA70, which is found on the Isle of Mull, off the coast of Scotland. It’s undoubtedly a pricey place to buy a home, with an average asking price of a little under £2.7m. The Isle of Mull is the second-largest of the Inner Hebrides and boasts a combination of beautiful beaches and stunning wildlife.

The top three were rounded out by Much Hadham in East Hertfordshire. Again, it benefits from excellent transport links into London and has an average property price of an eye-watering £2.68m.

Here is how the 20 most expensive postcodes shape up, according to the GetAgent study:

Source: GetAgent 

The postcodes with the cheapest house prices

At the other end of the scale, the four postcodes with the lowest average asking prices are all found north of the border.

The GetAgent study found that the cheapest of all was PA15, found in Greenock, Renfrewshire. Here, the average asking price was just £64,699.

It was followed by KA16, which is Newmilns in East Ayrshire, where the typical property will set you back a little under £70,000.

The first non-Scottish postcode to feature is BD1, for Bradford City centre, in fifth place. If you want to buy a home in the city, you’ll be faced with an average asking price of £81,610.

Below is how the 20 postcodes with the lowest average asking prices look, according to the GetAgent data:

Source: GetAgent 

The most and least expensive places to buy a home in London

But what about the capital itself? Each and every one of the 10 most expensive postcodes within London were located within the borough of the City of Westminster.

Top place went to W1K in Grosvenor Square, where you will have to cough up a whopping £7m in order to purchase a home. It was followed by W1S in Hanover Square (average asking price of £6.4m) and SW1X in Belgravia (average asking price of £6m).

If you want to find a more affordable option within London, then it’s worth looking further from the city centre.

According to the GetAgent study, cheapest of all was the DA18 postcode, which is Erith Marshes in Bexley. Here you can pick up a home for an average of £251,079. It was followed by RM20 in West Thurrock and RM19 in Purfleet, Thurrock, which had average asking prices of £265,912 and £266,285 respectively.

The best time to sell your home

If you’re selling your home and want to maximise the price you get ‒ and can’t rely on living in one of the most expensive postcodes ‒ then timing is crucial.

GetAgent’s report dug into the best times for selling a property, and found that spring and summer are particularly popular. March, May and June were found to be the most common months for listing a property, which it suggested was likely down to the improving weather and the fact that vendors and buyers are more available ‒ it’s not slap bang in the middle of the summer holiday season, for example.

According to the data, in March 371,208 properties were put up for sale, followed by 357,592 in May and 338,646 in June.

By contrast, November, December and October were the months with the fewest number of listings. GetAgent argued this was down to vendors wanting to avoid the stress of selling their home and moving over the Christmas period.

Home sales are rarely a quick process, after all ‒ according to the research, the average time taken to sell a home is 95 days.

More on this:

• Is now a good time to buy a house 
• What are the costs of buying a house? 
• Five things you need to know before buying a house with your partner 
• UK house prices latest: will house prices fall in 2023?