Where UK house prices have actually moved since 2020

Using the same ONS/HM Land Registry data that powers Homabu's price map, we looked at how average prices have moved over the last five years across all 360 UK local authorities. Two patterns stand out, and both are directly relevant if you're weighing up where to buy.

The fastest-growing areas aren't where you'd expect

Over the last five years, the sharpest percentage gains have mostly landed in areas that started off relatively affordable — not the traditionally expensive ones.

For context, the average five-year change across all 360 areas is around +21%. Every area above is running roughly double that, or more — and none of them are anywhere near the top of the price table. If you've been focused on the most talked-about cities, it's worth widening the search.

A small number of expensive boroughs have actually gotten cheaper

This is the part that surprises people: a handful of the most expensive parts of the country have seen average prices fall over the same five years — not just slow down, but go down in cash terms.

In total, 11 of the 360 areas we track saw average prices fall over five years — nearly all of them prime central London boroughs, plus Aberdeen, which has its own separate story tied to the oil and gas sector. We can't say for certain why from price data alone; higher interest rates, fewer international buyers, and a broader shift away from prime central London have all plausibly played a part. What the data does show clearly is that "prices only go up" isn't true everywhere, even in the country's most expensive postcodes.

What this actually means if you're buying

• Fast growth in a cheaper area can close an affordability gap quickly — but it also means prices may keep moving before you're ready, so timing your search matters
• A falling price in an expensive area doesn't automatically make it affordable — Kensington and Chelsea is still nearly 11x the price of the cheapest area we track, even after a 14.5% fall
• Area-level averages hide a lot — property type, condition, and the specific street all move the real number more than the area trend does

If you want to see how a specific area's prices have moved in more detail — including whether the long-term trend is reliable enough to read much into — the full price map covers all 360 areas with the same data used here.