A new-build house is not simply a newer version of the one next door. Across England in 2024 the median new-build house changed hands for £351,500, against £300,000 for the median resale (second-hand) house — a premium of £51,500, or about 17%. That comes from 55,563 new-build and 535,164 resale house sales lodged with HM Land Registry for the year (detached, semi-detached and terraced homes; flats are excluded throughout).
But the national figure hides an enormous geographic range. In Chichester the median new-build and the median resale house cost exactly the same in 2024. In Burnley, Lancashire, the median new-build sold for more than double the median resale. The gap is not really a measure of how much builders "mark up" a new home — it is a measure of what is being built, and what it is being built next to.
How the premium is measured
For every English local authority, all 2024 sales in the standard Land Registry category (single residential sales for value) were split into new-build and resale, and only houses were kept — detached, semi-detached and terraced. The two medians were then compared. Authorities are shown only where there were at least 50 new-build and 100 resale house sales, which leaves 211 authorities.
Two things matter before reading the tables. First, this is a median-versus-median comparison, not a like-for-like one: the typical new-build and the typical resale house in an area are different properties — different sizes, plots, ages and locations within the district. A large premium usually means new detached and semi-detached estates are being sold into a district whose existing stock is older and smaller, not that an identical home costs more because it is new. Second, the year used is 2024, the latest full year not distorted by registration lag — new-build sales reach the Land Registry several months after completion, so the most recent year always under-counts them.
None of the figures below is a valuation of any individual property; they are medians of prices actually paid.
Where the new-build premium is widest
The widest premiums are, almost without exception, in the North and Midlands. In these areas an older, terrace-heavy resale market — where the typical second-hand house sells for £120,000–£200,000 — sits beside new estates of detached and semi-detached homes priced from £250,000 up.
| Local authority | Resale house median | New-build house median | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burnley | £121,000 | £274,995 | +£153,995 (+127%) |
| Lancaster | £205,000 | £420,495 | +£215,495 (+105%) |
| Halton | £185,000 | £364,995 | +£179,995 (+97%) |
| Blackburn with Darwen | £150,000 | £279,995 | +£129,995 (+87%) |
| County Durham | £130,000 | £240,975 | +£110,975 (+85%) |
| Stockton-on-Tees | £165,000 | £304,995 | +£139,995 (+85%) |
| Sunderland | £145,000 | £266,701 | +£121,701 (+84%) |
| Hartlepool | £139,950 | £252,698 | +£112,748 (+81%) |
| Oldham | £197,000 | £351,748 | +£154,748 (+79%) |
| Stockport | £310,000 | £534,995 | +£224,995 (+73%) |
HM Land Registry Price Paid, 2024. Median of houses (detached, semi-detached, terraced).
Measured in pounds rather than percentages, the ladder tilts a little further south. Bath and North East Somerset tops it at +£229,995 (£420,000 rising to £649,995), just ahead of Stockport (+£224,995) and Lancaster (+£215,495). The pattern is the same, though: the cash gap is largest wherever an established, cheaper resale market meets a wave of higher-specification new houses.
Where a new house costs little or no more
At the other end, the premium shrinks to nothing — and occasionally reverses — in already-expensive southern markets. Where the resale stock is itself dominated by large, high-value detached houses, a new estate of town-houses or smaller family homes can sell at or below the second-hand median.
| Local authority | Resale house median | New-build house median | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chichester | £450,000 | £450,000 | £0 (0%) |
| Buckinghamshire | £500,000 | £492,500 | −£7,500 (−1.5%) |
| South Hams | £385,000 | £375,000 | −£10,000 (−2.6%) |
| Malvern Hills | £340,000 | £328,420 | −£11,580 (−3.4%) |
| Winchester | £528,724 | £423,000 | −£105,724 (−20%) |
| Trafford | £393,223 | £309,995 | −£83,228 (−21%) |
HM Land Registry Price Paid, 2024. Median of houses (detached, semi-detached, terraced).
Only five of the 211 authorities showed a negative premium, and the sharpest — Trafford — rests on a thin new-build sample (52 sales). Winchester's −20% stands on firmer ground (253 new-build sales) and reflects a second-hand market weighted toward substantial detached houses that recent, smaller new homes do not match on price. This too is a composition effect, not evidence that a new home is somehow "cheaper" like for like.
Why it is a Northern story
Across the 211 authorities the typical local premium is closer to a third than to the national 17%: 81 authorities fall in the 25–50% band, 31 between 50% and 75%, and nine above 75%. The national headline is lower simply because it pools every sale together, and high-volume southern resale markets — where second-hand houses are already expensive — pull the blended gap down.
The mechanism is consistent. In much of the North and Midlands — from Greater Manchester to West Yorkshire — the resale market rests on Victorian and inter-war terraces that still change hands well below £200,000, while the land coming forward for development is delivered as detached and semi-detached estates. Comparing the two medians therefore sets a modern three- or four-bedroom house against a nineteenth-century two-up two-down. In the pricier South the second-hand market already contains plenty of large detached houses, so a new estate has a much higher baseline to clear.
That is why a similar cash gap reads so differently. Around £150,000 separates the median new and resale house in both Burnley and Oldham, but against a £121,000 terrace that is +127%, while against Oldham's £197,000 base it is +79%. The numerator is alike; the denominator is not.
What it means if you are weighing new against old
A wider premium is not automatically a worse deal. A new house typically comes with a warranty, current energy-efficiency standards and no immediate repair backlog — things the median price does not capture. And the running costs do not scale with the purchase price. Council tax is set by band, not by whether a home is new: County Durham's Band D is £2,622 for 2026–27 against Burnley's £2,549, so two houses at very different prices can carry similar annual bills. New-build houses can also carry estate-management charges that older freeholds do not, and new homes behave differently from resale stock in the years after completion, as our look at new-build prices over time sets out.
The purchase price does drive one cost directly: stamp duty. A £275,000 new-build in Burnley attracts about £3,750 in stamp duty for a home mover, where a £121,000 resale house attracts nothing, because the higher price crosses the £250,000 threshold. How much anyone actually pays depends on their circumstances — first-time buyer, home mover or additional property — and the stamp-duty calculator works each case through. Financing the £154,000 price gap over 25 years at the Bank of England's most recent quoted five-year fixed rate (4.32%, April 2026) would add roughly £840 a month to a repayment mortgage, though your own rate will depend on your lender, deposit and credit profile. This is general information, not advice — speak to a qualified adviser before acting.
To see the all-in monthly cost of the actual houses on any street — mortgage, council tax and energy together — type a postcode into Homecost's true-cost tool. It is free and needs no sign-up. It is also worth reading alongside the companion pieces on where new-builds are cheapest to buy and the true cost of a £350k new-build versus resale, or browse more market-analysis guides.
Based on 590,000-plus house transactions lodged with HM Land Registry for 2024. How Homecost is built.