Of the 405 homes sold in Ascot's SL5 postcode district in 2025, 112 — 27.7% — changed hands for £1,000,000 or more, according to HM Land Registry price-paid records. The median sale price was £650,000, about 2.2 times the England and Wales median of £295,650.
That headline covers a district that straddles two councils. SL5 is Royal Mail's Ascot post town and takes in Sunninghill and Sunningdale, but its addresses fall mostly under the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, about a quarter under Bracknell Forest, and a handful in Runnymede and Surrey Heath. Prices, energy ratings and the council tax rate all change across that line. To compare like with like, most of this article uses the 296 sales in the Windsor and Maidenhead part of SL5, set against the borough's two main towns, Windsor (SL4) and Maidenhead (SL6). All figures were queried on 24 September 2026.
What SL5 sold for in 2025
| Area | 2025 sales | Median price | Middle half of sales | Sales at £1m or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SL5, whole district | 405 | £650,000 | £473,000–£1,075,000 | 112 (27.7%) |
| SL5, Windsor and Maidenhead part | 296 | £683,750 | £475,000–£1,230,000 | 96 (32.4%) |
| SL5, Bracknell Forest part | 105 | £545,000 | £445,000–£750,000 | 13 (12.4%) |
| SL4 and SL6 (Windsor and Maidenhead) | 1,657 | £512,000 | £385,000–£721,000 | 162 (9.8%) |
Within Windsor and Maidenhead, the SL5 median of £683,750 is 25.5% above the borough-wide median of £545,000 (2,090 sales) and 33.5% above the combined median for the other two main districts: Maidenhead (SL6, £513,750, 1,096 sales) and Windsor (SL4, £510,000, 561 sales). The premium is not confined to one corner: the three SL5 sectors with more than 80 sales each had medians of £767,000 (SL5 0), £737,500 (SL5 7) and £675,000 (SL5 9). Homecost's Windsor and Maidenhead price and council tax analysis covers the borough as a whole.
Why the average runs well above the median
In the Windsor and Maidenhead part of SL5 the mean sale price was £959,552, 40.3% above the £683,750 median. The gap comes from the top of the market.
| Price paid | SL5 (Windsor and Maidenhead part) | SL4 and SL6 |
|---|---|---|
| £500,000 or less | 89 (30.1%) | 795 (48.0%) |
| £500,001–£749,999 | 73 (24.7%) | 479 (28.9%) |
| £750,000–£999,999 | 38 (12.8%) | 221 (13.3%) |
| £1m–£1.99m | 73 (24.7%) | 140 (8.4%) |
| £2m or more | 23 (7.8%) | 22 (1.3%) |
| All sales | 296 | 1,657 |
The middle of the market looks alike: 12.8% of SL5 sales and 13.3% of SL4 and SL6 sales fell between £750,000 and £999,999. The difference is at the two ends. SL5 has fewer sales at £500,000 or below (30.1% against 48.0%) and far more at £1m or above (32.4% against 9.8%). Strip out the 96 SL5 sales at £1m or more and the mean of the remaining 200 drops to £567,750, below the median for all 296. In SL4 and SL6 the same exercise leaves a mean of £514,004, almost level with their £512,000 median. The mean in SL5 is being pulled up by a small group of high-value sales, which is why the median is the better guide to a typical sale. The same test is applied to Dorset's most expensive postcode in Homecost's average-versus-median analysis of Sandbanks.
Where the premium sits: detached houses and flats
| Property type | SL5 median (sales) | SL4 and SL6 median (sales) | SL5 difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | £1,250,000 (111) | £825,000 (438) | +51.5% |
| Semi-detached | £595,000 (62) | £560,000 (410) | +6.3% |
| Terraced | £465,000 (35) | £476,250 (365) | −2.4% |
| Flat | £570,000 (88) | £315,000 (444) | +81.0% |
SL5's price gap over the rest of the borough is uneven. Detached houses and flats are far dearer than in Windsor and Maidenhead's other districts; semi-detached and terraced homes are within a few per cent, on modest samples of 62 and 35 sales. The mix differs too: detached houses were 37.5% of SL5 sales against 26.4% in SL4 and SL6, while terraces were 11.8% against 22.0%. Detached houses account for 70 of the 96 SL5 sales at £1m or more (72.9%).
Across the whole SL5 district the median detached house (£1,160,000, 139 sales) was 2.1 times the median semi-detached (£552,500, 106 sales), the kind of ratio explored in Homecost's analysis of where a detached house costs double a semi, which lists Ascot among the districts where that happens.
The flats are a new-build story
SL5's flat premium sits almost entirely in new-build stock. Of 88 flats sold in the Windsor and Maidenhead part of SL5 in 2025, 23 (26.1%) were new-build, all leasehold, with a median price of £1,230,250 (range £650,000 to £2,995,000). The other 65, resale flats, had a median of £400,000 — still 30.1% above the £307,500 resale-flat median in SL4 and SL6 (387 sales), but far closer. In SL4 and SL6, new-build flats were 12.8% of flat sales (57 of 444) with a median of £362,500. Fourteen of the 21 SL5 flats that sold for £1m or more were new-build. Across all property types, 42 of 296 SL5 sales (14.2%) were new-build, against 5.4% (89 of 1,657) in SL4 and SL6. Twenty-three sales is a small base, so the exact new-build flat median is best read as an indication rather than a precise figure. HM Land Registry records new-build sales with a delay, so the 2025 new-build counts and shares in this section are likely to be understated for both areas; prices are less affected than counts. How new-build houses compare with resale ones across England is covered in Homecost's new-build house premium by local authority.
One postcode district, two main council tax rates
Council tax is set by each billing authority, not by postcode district, so SL5 has no single Band D rate. For 2026-27 the rate is £1,952.62 in Windsor and Maidenhead and £2,264.80 in Bracknell Forest: £312.18 a year, or 16.0%, higher. The average across England's 296 authorities is £2,410.97.
| Authority | SL5 sales in 2025 | SL5 median | Band D 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windsor and Maidenhead | 296 | £683,750 | £1,952.62 |
| Bracknell Forest | 105 | £545,000 | £2,264.80 |
| Runnymede | 3 | too few to report | £2,492.99 |
| Surrey Heath | 1 | too few to report | £2,585.16 |
The boundary runs through the district's sectors. In sector SL5 8, 103 of 125 sales were in Bracknell Forest, while sectors SL5 0, SL5 7 and SL5 9 are almost entirely in Windsor and Maidenhead. Two homes sharing the SL5 district can therefore sit under different councils and different Band D rates.
Band D is a benchmark, not a bill. In England every home is placed in one of eight bands, A to H, according to its estimated value on 1 April 1991 (gov.uk), so what a household pays depends on the band of its home as well as its council's rate, and not on what the home last sold for. Homecost's guide to council tax bands sets out how the bands relate to each other. The council concerned confirms the band and bill for a specific address.
Energy performance: greener stock, for a simple reason
Among the latest energy performance certificates matched to an address, 43.6% of homes in the Windsor and Maidenhead part of SL5 (1,408 of 3,231) are rated C or better, against 34.9% (6,977 of 19,981) in SL4 and SL6. In the Bracknell Forest part of SL5 the figure is 46.8% (631 of 1,347). Higher prices did not go with poorer ratings here.
The gap comes from when the homes were built, not from a like-for-like difference. Within each build era the two areas are close, and 31.2% of 1930–1982 homes reach C in both. SL5 simply has more recent stock:
| Build era | SL5 share of dated certificates | SL5 rated C or better | SL4 and SL6 share | SL4 and SL6 rated C or better |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1930 | 23.1% | 9.5% | 23.4% | 11.1% |
| 1930–1982 | 43.5% | 31.2% | 60.4% | 31.2% |
| 1983–2002 | 19.5% | 53.0% | 11.0% | 54.7% |
| 2003 onwards | 13.9% | 97.6% | 5.2% | 93.2% |
Homes from 1983 onwards are 33.4% of dated SL5 certificates against 16.2% in SL4 and SL6, and they score far better than older stock. Another 223 SL5 certificates (6.9%) carry no usable build era and are left out of the table.
Stamp duty at the SL5 median
For illustration, this is the Stamp Duty Land Tax due in England on a purchase at £683,750, the median for the Windsor and Maidenhead part of SL5, using Homecost's stamp duty calculator:
| Buyer | SDLT | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|
| Home mover | £24,187.50 | 3.54% |
| First-time buyer | £24,187.50 | 3.54% |
| Additional property | £58,375.00 | 8.54% |
That is £6,937.50 more than the £17,250 due at the borough-wide median of £545,000. Above £500,000, first-time buyer relief is withdrawn, so a first-time buyer pays the same as a mover; how that threshold bites across the area is mapped in Homecost's England's £500,000 stamp duty cliff and the London commuter ring. For a fuller cost breakdown at nearby price points, see the true cost of buying a £500,000 home and the true cost of buying a £750,000 home. A similar within-borough price pocket is examined in Richmond upon Thames' outer-London price premium.
Reading these figures
These are completed 2025 standard price-paid sales, so they describe what was paid, not what any individual property is worth, and they make no statement about future prices. Samples shrink quickly once SL5 is cut by property type or sector (35 terraced sales; 22 in the Windsor and Maidenhead part of sector SL5 8), and medians on small samples can move a lot from year to year. Stamp duty figures are calculations at a median price, not what any particular buyer would owe: eligibility and liability depend on individual circumstances and are confirmed by a conveyancer. This is general information, not advice. Speak to a qualified adviser before acting.
To see the mortgage cost at the current Bank of England quoted rate, council tax and energy rating for an individual address, search an Ascot postcode on Homecost, or browse more regional price analysis across England and Wales.
Based on 405 HM Land Registry transactions in SL5 in 2025 (296 in Windsor and Maidenhead, 105 in Bracknell Forest, 4 elsewhere), 1,657 in SL4 and SL6, 4,578 linked EPC certificates across the Windsor and Maidenhead and Bracknell Forest parts of SL5 and 2026-27 council tax Band D rates for all 296 English billing authorities; see the full blog for methodology and sources. Data queried 24 September 2026.