Average house price in Nottingham 2026: cheap to buy, costly to run

Half of all homes sold in Nottingham in 2025 changed hands for £200,000 or less — around 32% below the £295,000 median for England and Wales. On price alone, Nottingham is one of the more affordable major English cities. Yet the same household faces a council tax bill that ranks among the very highest in the country: the city's Band D charge for 2026-27 is the third-largest of all 296 billing authorities in England.

That combination — cheap to buy, costly to run — is the mirror image of prime London, where homes cost a fortune but council tax is unusually low. This guide sets out what people actually paid across Nottingham's postcode districts in 2025, using HM Land Registry's record of completed sales, and puts the figure in context against council tax, energy ratings and the cost of a mortgage at today's rates.

The headline number

Across 2,713 standard residential sales registered in the City of Nottingham (local authority E06000018) during 2025, the figures were:

The mean sits about £23,600 above the median because a smaller number of higher-value detached sales pull the average upward. The median — the midpoint, where half of sales fall below and half above — is the more representative "typical" figure.

One feature stands out when these numbers are read alongside other cities: the gap between Nottingham's cheapest and dearest districts is comparatively narrow, so the single headline figure is a reasonably honest guide to the whole city — more so than in places where suburb-to-suburb prices stretch four-fold.

What you get for the money: the property mix

Nottingham's 2025 sales split almost evenly between terraced houses and semi-detached homes, the two together making up seven in ten transactions:

Terraced houses were the single most-traded type, but only just — 27 sales ahead of semis, one of the tightest terrace-versus-semi splits of any large English city. Detached homes, at a £295,000 median, match the national typical home; flats, at £138,000, mark the entry point.

The district ladder

Prices vary across Nottingham's NG postcode districts, though within a far tighter range than in many cities. The table below ranks every district inside the city boundary with at least 30 sales in 2025 (figures are medians):

The spread from top (NG8, £235,000) to bottom (NG1, £150,000) is about 1.6-fold — modest next to cities where the gap runs past four-fold.

A boundary note worth understanding. These figures cover only the City of Nottingham local authority. The NG postcode area is much wider than the city: it reaches into Rushcliffe, Gedling, Broxtowe and Ashfield, which are separate councils. The affluent suburb of West Bridgford, for instance, also carries an NG2 postcode but sits in Rushcliffe, so it is not part of the figures above. Nottingham has one of the most tightly drawn city boundaries in England — a point that matters for council tax, below.

You can check the true monthly cost of any Nottingham postcode on Homecost to see the all-in figure for a specific street.

The twist: among England's highest council tax

Here is where Nottingham diverges from its affordable-to-buy reputation. The City Council's Band D council tax for 2026-27 is £2,755.39 — the third-highest of all 296 billing authorities in England, behind only Dorset (£2,765.02) and Lewes (£2,756.17), and higher than every other large English city (gov.uk).

Council tax is not a percentage of a property's price. It is a flat charge per valuation band, set by each authority to fund its annual budget and levied on what a home was worth in 1991 (gov.uk). A tightly drawn city boundary — which keeps wealthier suburbs such as West Bridgford in neighbouring authorities — means Nottingham funds city-wide services across a lower-value tax base than a larger authority would, which contributes to a high Band D.

For a household, the practical effect is plain. The £2,755.39 Band D charge works out at about £230 a month, on top of the mortgage. Many of Nottingham's terraced and flatted homes actually sit in the lower Bands A and B, where the bill is six-ninths and seven-ninths of the Band D figure, so a typical bill is often lower than £230 — but relative to the price paid, Nottingham's running cost is unusually heavy. Your actual bill depends on your property's band, which the Valuation Office Agency or a property listing can confirm.

Energy efficiency: older stock, lower ratings

Nottingham's housing leans Victorian and inter-war, and its energy ratings reflect that. Of roughly 84,200 domestic Energy Performance Certificates on record for the city, about 28% are rated C or above and 72% sit at band D or below:

That places Nottingham among the lower-rated of England's major cities — a function of its older terraced stock rather than anything unusual about the homes themselves. The median floor area on file is around 81 square metres. (EPC running-cost models use dated assumptions and are best read as a rough guide to relative efficiency, not an exact bill.)

Stamp duty and the monthly cost

At the £200,000 median, a home mover buying their only property would pay £1,500 in Stamp Duty Land Tax — an effective rate of 0.75% — under the rates in force in 2026. The tax is charged in slices: nothing on the first £125,000, then 2% on the portion up to £250,000 (HMRC). A first-time buyer would pay £0, because the price sits below the £300,000 first-time-buyer threshold. A buyer of an additional property — a second home or buy-to-let — would pay a 5% surcharge on top, roughly £10,000 more at this price. You can model any price on Homecost's stamp duty calculator.

On the mortgage side, a £200,000 home bought with a 25% deposit (£50,000) leaves a £150,000 loan. Over a 25-year term at the Bank of England's most recent quoted rate for a 75% loan-to-value five-year fix — 4.32% as of April 2026 — that works out at roughly £818 a month. Add the Band D council tax and the all-in figure for a Band D home is close to £1,050 a month before energy and insurance. You can run your own numbers on the mortgage calculator; your rate will depend on your lender, deposit and credit profile.

How prices have moved

Reading price direction from a single year's median is unreliable, because the mix of homes sold changes from year to year. The mix-adjusted UK House Price Index is the better guide. As of its March 2026 release, the City of Nottingham index was broadly flat to slightly down over the year (−0.8% in the 12 months to March 2026), while the wider Nottinghamshire county index rose 1.7% and the East Midlands region rose 0.7% (HM Land Registry / ONS). The raw median in this guide rose from £190,000 in 2024 to £200,000 in 2025, but that movement is mix-sensitive and is best read as a level, not a trend. These are published index movements, not forecasts.

The bottom line

Nottingham offers a genuinely affordable entry into a major English city — a £200,000 typical home, a comparatively even spread of prices across its districts, and detached houses at the national median. The trade-off sits in the running costs: a council tax bill that ranks third nationally, and an older housing stock with lower energy ratings. For anyone comparing cities, it is a clean reminder that the asking price is only half the story.

Compare the numbers with nearby cities — average house prices in Sheffield to the north and average house prices in Birmingham to the south-west — or work through every line item in the true cost of buying a £200,000 home. For more cities, browse our regional price guides.

This article is general information based on public data, not financial, tax or property advice. Figures are typical examples; your own costs will differ. Speak to a qualified adviser before acting.