10 Jan, 2025/ by Homeward Legal /Buyer, First Time Buyer, News, Sale & Purchase
Happy new year!
And how are those resolutions going?
Have you been thinking of moving home but have been putting it off, perhaps waiting for the annual pressure of planning the perfect Christmas to be out of the way?
Of course, it's always very easy to find reasons not to start something, possibly because of a fear of failure but often because it's quite difficult to know where to start and how to maintain the momentum to get to the finishing line without incurring significant costs personally and financially.
Moving home is no different, and is even more of a struggle to get going because it is such a massive undertaking: finding a new property that you're happy with, lining up the queue of professionals you'll need to involve at some point (surveyors, conveyancing solicitors, estate agents, mortgage lenders, removals companies, 650even house clearance firms)… the list always seems endless and, as a result, overwhelming.
As with any large project, it's always worth breaking it down into manageable chunks that are feasibly achievable rather than trying to focus solely on that end goal of moving into your new home.
The first step is to think about what you want from your next property and how important they are to you: number of bedrooms; bathroom and kitchen size and facilities; whether you are prepared to do work to bring up to your spec or simply want to decorate; size of garden and how established it already is; off-road parking; access to communal facilities; transport links; distance from friends, relatives and/or work; availability of key amenities; and so on.
Almost certainly, one of the key drivers is going to be money: how much is the property going to cost you simply to buy it, based on your list of critical criteria? And how fast are the prices going up in the area that you want to buy it in?
Answering that last question will help you to understand the pace at which you need to make decisions in order to minimise the effect of house price inflation while you are searching for that next property.
To assist in that process, the Halifax has looked at the house price information across the twelve months to September 2024 to itemise the areas where the price growth is highest - and the corresponding list of locations where prices have been sluggish.
The best performing areas for house prices
The not unreasonable expectation would be for the list to be topped by somewhere in the South-East of England, maybe somewhere on the fringes of the capital, but Halifax's analysis shows this not to be the case.
In fact, in the top ten of the best performing locations when it comes to house prices, there is only one from the South-East region that makes an appearance. Instead, at the top is Stoke-on-Trent, which is some distance ahead of second-placed Slough.
There is a great showing from the Yorkshire and Humber region, while the West Midlands and North-West England all make a strong showing across the top ten.
Of particular interest, too, from Halifax's figures earlier in 2024, 73% of the purchases that were made in Slough came from first-time buyers.
Top ten UK towns and cities with greatest house price growth 2023-24
Location | Region | Average price (2023) | Average price (2024) | Growth in price (£) | Growth in price (%) |
Stoke-on-Trent | West Midlands | £193,662 | £227,002 | £33,339 | 17.2% |
Slough | South-East | £433,194 | £497,704 | £64,510 | 14.9% |
Oldham | North-West | £218,595 | £250,546 | £31,951 | 14.6% |
Bradford | Yorkshire and The Humber | £200,093 | £226,261 | £26,168 | 13.1% |
Bolton | North-West | £223,231 | £252,070 | £28,839 | 12.9% |
Barnsley | Yorkshire and The Humber | £199,725 | £224,886 | £25,161 | 12.6% |
Wolverhampton | West Midlands | £247,403 | £278,083 | £30,680 | 12.4% |
Doncaster | Yorkshire and The Humber | £204,371 | £228,040 | £23,669 | 11.6% |
Dunfermline | Scotland | £208,013 | £230,379 | £22,365 | 10.8% |
Hamilton | Scotland | £208,360 | £229,835 | £21,474 | 10.3% |
Source: Halifax - 2023 vs 2024, rolling 12-month data to end September each year, minimum sample 150
The least performing areas for house prices
As with the areas that have seen the greatest house price uplift in the period under analysis, it would be reasonable to expect that the South-East and London in particular would be safe from lowering house prices.
But this is not the case as Halifax have shown with the list of places that have suffered the greatest reduction in prices. Of those, seven are within London and one from South-East, although Huddersfield still tops the table.
Top ten UK towns and cities with lowest house price growth 2023-24
Location | Region | Average price (2023) | Average price (2024) | Growth in price (£) | Growth in price (%) |
Huddersfield | Yorkshire and The Humber | £279,012 | £260,498 | -£18,514 | -6.6% |
Wirral | North-West | £311,003 | £294,250 | -£16,753 | -5.4% |
Ealing | London | £588,383 | £559,788 | -£28,596 | -4.9% |
Southwark | London | £583,203 | £555,325 | -£27,878 | -4.8% |
Kingston-upon-Thames | London | £607,522 | £582,282 | -£25,240 | -4.2% |
Enfield | London | £527,807 | £506,667 | -£21,140 | -4.0% |
Harrow | London | £572,921 | £552,203 | -£20,718 | -3.6% |
Westminster | London | £757,083 | £730,859 | -£26,224 | -3.5% |
Bromley | London | £558,980 | £541,131 | -£17,848 | -3.2% |
Aylesbury | South-East | £435,416 | £423,252 | -£12,164 | -2.8% |
Source: Halifax - 2023 vs 2024, rolling 12-month data to end September each year, minimum sample 150
Amanda Bryden, Head of Mortgages at Halifax, said:
“Some areas of the UK - including Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton and Dunfermline - have seen remarkable house price growth this year, as buyers perhaps seek out more affordable areas where house prices, despite increases, are still coming in under the national average.
"This trend is causing house prices in some areas to flip from slowing, to growing, such as Stoke-on-Trent, which was the biggest faller last year but showed the highest rate of growth, regionally, this year.
“That story doesn't play out nationally. The high asking price for London properties means house prices have fallen in several boroughs - perhaps a reflection that the relatively high cost of properties is stretching affordability for buyers, or perhaps what they are willing to pay. Overall, London has a house price to earnings ratio of 8.22, making it one of the least affordable places to live in the country, against a national ratio of 6.55.
“Regionally, while the South-East has seen some robust growth - in places like Basingstoke and Maidstone, overall, it is lagging behind the rest of the UK, with movement of just +1.8%, compared to +6.3% for the UK overall. Much like London, first-time buyers won't find a bargain here, as the slow growth is likely a consequence of the already-high property prices, relative to the national average.
“When you're buying a home there's so much to consider - it can become overwhelming, with the cost of a property just one of many things to think about. My advice would be to make yourself a list of everything that's important to you, decide which are the deal-breakers and which you're willing to compromise on, then get stuck in with viewing houses and visiting areas to get a feel for each place. Be open to everything that's affordable and suits your personal circumstances - you never know where you might find a hidden gem that's just right for you.”
How the regions house prices compare
Looking at statistics for specific areas is all very well, but does that necessarily signify a particularly unusual change across the region? To help with this assessment, Halifax has also analysed the position across the regions and tabulated them from best- to worst-performing.
This shows that, while some areas are outperforming and others reducing in price, overall, the regions are generally on the rise with house prices.
UK nations and regions house price growth 2023-24
Region | Average price (2023) | Average price (2024) | Growth in price (£) | Growth in price (%) |
Northern Ireland | £203,724 | £225,271 | £21,547 | 10.6% |
Yorkshire and The Humber | £245,214 | £260,946 | £15,731 | 6.4% |
West Midlands | £281,510 | £299,318 | £17,807 | 6.3% |
Scotland | £233,360 | £247,094 | £13,733 | 5.9% |
Wales | £241,628 | £255,197 | £13,569 | 5.6% |
North-West | £255,296 | £269,139 | £13,843 | 5.4% |
East Midlands | £276,825 | £290,129 | £13,304 | 4.8% |
North-East | £213,166 | £221,869 | £8,704 | 4.1% |
South-West | £337,880 | £350,553 | £12,673 | 3.8% |
London | £551,673 | £571,583 | £19,910 | 3.6% |
East of England | £392,996 | £406,888 | £13,891 | 3.5% |
Unknown | £378,358 | £390,724 | £12,365 | 3.3% |
South-East | £440,509 | £448,456 | £7,947 | 1.8% |
UK | £329,444 | £350,066 | £20,622 | 6.3% |
Source: Halifax
Good luck with any of your new year's resolutions. And, if you are planning on moving home and are looking for an expert conveyancing solicitor at a competitive price that's value for money, look no further than Homeward Legal.
Our conveyancers will start work on your planned purchase as soon as you agree to the quotation and appoint them to represent you.
Homeward Legal will also provide a quote that will not change - what you are quoted is what you pay for standard conveyancing process, which means you can effectively budget for your conveyancing needs.
There are some unforeseen items that might arise during the purchase and/or sale, which includes a specialist flood assessment report, but the solicitor discusses these and their cost as they come up.
In addition, to protect the homebuyer further, Homeward Legal operates a ‘no completion, no fee' promise, which ensures that, should the purchase or sale not go through as planned to completion status, no payment is required.
Call to get your conveyancing quote started, or to discuss your concerns with your plans to move.
Or you can get a quick quote, using Homeward Legal's easy-to-use quote generator.