The HM Land Registry Price Paid dataset is one of the most comprehensive property datasets in the world. It records every residential sale in England and Wales upon registration — and we’ve analysed the lot.
Here’s what 30,954,876 transactions across 1,116,927 unique postcodes tell us about the UK housing market.
The national picture
The current national average property price stands at £270,259. But this single number hides enormous variation:
- 132 counties with averages ranging from £139,861 (Blaenau Gwent) to £810,495 (Greater London)
- 1,173 towns tracked individually
- 2,392 postcode districts with detailed breakdowns
The dataset goes back to January 1995, giving us over 30 years of continuous price data.
How prices have changed since 1995
In 1995, the national average was approximately £65,000. Today it’s over £270,000 — a 4x increase in nominal terms. But the growth hasn’t been steady:
- 1995–2000: Steady growth, prices roughly doubled
- 2000–2007: The boom years — prices doubled again
- 2008–2009: The financial crisis — prices fell 15–20% nationally
- 2010–2013: Flat to slow recovery
- 2014–2016: Strong growth, especially in London and the South East
- 2017–2019: London plateaued while Northern cities caught up
- 2020–2021: The pandemic boom — stamp duty holiday and demand for space pushed prices up sharply
- 2022–2023: Higher interest rates cooled the market
- 2024–2026: Gradual stabilisation with regional variation
Property types: who’s winning?
Across all 30 million transactions, the breakdown by property type reveals clear patterns:
Detached houses have seen the strongest long-term price growth, consistently outperforming other types. Their premium over terraced houses has widened significantly since the pandemic, as buyers prioritised space and gardens.
Flats have underperformed relative to houses since 2016, particularly in London. The combination of cladding concerns post-Grenfell, rising service charges, and a cultural shift toward houses with gardens has weighed on flat values.
Terraced houses remain the backbone of the market — the most commonly transacted property type in England and Wales, and often the first rung on the ladder.
The geography of growth
Not all areas have grown equally. Some of the strongest performers since 1995 include:
- Hackney, East London — transformed from one of London’s poorest boroughs to one of its most desirable, with prices increasing over 10x
- Manchester city centre — regeneration and employment growth have driven sustained demand
- Bristol — consistently strong growth driven by tech sector employment and quality of life
- Cambridge — constrained supply and world-class employment have pushed prices to South East levels
Meanwhile, some areas have seen much more modest growth, particularly former industrial towns in the North East and Welsh Valleys where underlying demand remains lower.
New builds vs existing stock
The dataset includes a flag for new-build properties, and the premium is significant. New builds typically sell for 10–20% more than equivalent existing properties, though this premium tends to fade as the property ages.
This “new-build premium” reflects a combination of factors: modern specifications, builder warranties, energy efficiency, and the appeal of being the first owner. But it also means new builds can appear to lose value in their first few years as the premium erodes — even if the underlying market is rising.
What the data can’t tell you
While 30 million transactions give us extraordinary coverage, there are limitations:
- Condition — the data doesn’t record whether a property was renovated or derelict
- Cash sales — included in the data, but we can’t distinguish motivated sellers or auction purchases
- Leasehold specifics — remaining lease length significantly affects flat values but isn’t in the dataset
- Non-residential — commercial property, mixed-use, and agricultural land are excluded
Despite these limitations, the sheer volume and consistency of the data makes it the gold standard for understanding UK property prices.
Explore the data yourself
We’ve made the entire dataset searchable and browsable:
- Property search — look up any address to see its full sale history
- Postcode areas — prices, trends, and breakdowns for 2,392 districts
- Towns — data for 1,173 towns and cities
- Counties — county-level averages and rankings
All data from HM Land Registry Price Paid dataset. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.