Market Analysis
UK property cost research — written from the data, not the marketing brochure.
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market-analysis
London Stamp Duty vs Council Tax: 33 Boroughs Ranked (2026)
In Kensington and Chelsea a single stamp duty bill buys 36 years of council tax; in Barking and Dagenham, barely four.
4 September 2026
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market-analysis
New-build vs resale house premium by area: England 2026
The median new-build house cost £51,500 more than a resale one across England in 2024 — but the gap runs from nil in the pricey South to more than double in parts of the North.
1 September 2026
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market-analysis
Postcode Price Gaps: Location or House Type? UK 2026
Across seven English cities, we test how much of the gap between the cheapest and dearest postcode district is a real location premium — and how much is just the mix of flats and houses each area holds.
1 September 2026
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market-analysis
The £500k Stamp Duty Cliff: London's Commuter Ring, 2026
First-time buyer relief vanishes above £500,000 — and across a ring of authorities around London, the typical home now sits beyond it.
31 August 2026
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market-analysis
Where South Yorkshire's detached-home premium concentrates, 2026
Barnsley and Doncaster share an identical £180,000 median — yet their detached houses are £28,000 apart, and the gap sits in the greener fringes.
27 August 2026
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market-analysis
What first-time buyer stamp duty relief is worth, by UK city 2026
The saving peaks at a capped £5,000 in cities like Bristol and Cambridge, wipes out the whole bill across the cheaper North, and reaches zero in London and Wales.
24 August 2026
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market-analysis
Cambridge, Oxford & Bath: the cities that price like London 2026
In 2025, a third to a half of homes in these three cities sold above £500,000 — a pattern otherwise seen only in London.
21 August 2026
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market-analysis
How Many Homes Sell for £500,000-Plus? UK Cities Ranked 2026
The £500,000 mark is where first-time buyer relief runs out and the corporate flat rate begins — and whether a home sits above it depends almost entirely on the city.
20 August 2026
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market-analysis
Where the core city isn't the priciest place to buy: 2026
In four of England's six metropolitan counties, a neighbouring borough — not the famous core city — records the highest median sale price.
19 August 2026
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market-analysis
Where a Detached House Costs Double a Semi (2026)
A detached home sold for at least twice the price of a semi in only 26 of England and Wales's 1,668 measured districts last year — and they sit at opposite ends of the price ladder.
19 August 2026
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market-analysis
Which UK cities sell the most flats? A 2026 city ranking
In London most homes sold are flats; in Wakefield it is fewer than one in twenty — a gap that quietly reshapes what each city's average price really means.
17 August 2026
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market-analysis
Deposit or salary: which one gets you more home in 2026?
Two levers on your budget — one adds pound for pound, the other multiplies by 4.5.
16 August 2026
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market-analysis
UK Cities With the Flattest House-Price Geography in 2026
In some cities the dearest postcode costs barely a quarter more than the cheapest; in others, more than four times as much.
12 August 2026
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market-analysis
Median vs mean house price: why the 'average' misleads 2026
Across 24 UK cities the average sale price runs up to a third higher than the typical one — here is the gap, and why it happens.
10 August 2026
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market-analysis
What the UK's sub-£50,000 home sales really are (2026)
Fewer than one home sale in 300 was under £50,000 last year — and once repossessions and part-shares are separated out, most of what's left isn't a whole habitable house.
10 August 2026
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market-analysis
Cheapest UK cities to buy a flat in 2026, ranked
Sunderland's typical flat sold for £72,900 in 2025 and London's for £440,000 — a six-fold gap, mapped across 27 major cities on Land Registry data.
5 August 2026
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market-analysis
Converted flats vs purpose-built blocks: the 2026 EPC gap
Across England and Wales, flats in pre-1930 buildings rate 26% at EPC band C or above; flats built since 2003 rate 93% — and the pattern holds in every major city.
2 August 2026
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market-analysis
Where terraced homes lag on EPC: the 2026 UK district map
Across 10.7 million homes a terrace rates only just below the national average — but in a handful of districts the gap runs past 16 points, and it tracks build era, not price.
31 July 2026
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market-analysis
SDLT 'uninhabitable property' refunds: inside the reclaim market
How a 2019 tribunal ruling spawned a no-win-no-fee reclaim industry — and why most speculative claims now fail HMRC's challenge.
30 July 2026
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market-analysis
Cheap to Buy Doesn't Mean Cheap to Heat: England's 2026 EPC Map
Across 164 English shire districts, purchase price and energy efficiency barely move together — build era, not price, decides the bill.
27 July 2026
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market-analysis
Do semis ever cost more than a detached house? 2026
In 1,652 postcode districts with a reliable sample of both, the detached home wins every time — and the handful of exceptions turn out to be a small-sample mirage.
20 July 2026
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market-analysis
What £200,000 buys across the UK in 2026: floor space by area
For the same budget, 2025 sales show a 91 m² semi in Sunderland or a 44 m² flat in south-east London.
19 July 2026
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market-analysis
First-time buyer stamp duty relief: before and after April 2025
When the temporary thresholds ended, the number of English council areas where a first-time buyer paid £0 on the typical home fell from 228 to 145.
19 July 2026
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market-analysis
Where first-time buyers pay no stamp duty in England (2026)
In 145 of England's 295 councils a first-time buyer at the local median pays nothing — but in every London borough, the relief runs out.
18 July 2026
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market-analysis
Cheap to Buy, Dear to Run: Metro-Borough Council Tax 2026
In 29 of England's 36 metropolitan boroughs, Band D council tax now tops 1% of a typical home's price — and Gateshead's bill beats Trafford's on a house worth £205,000 less.
14 July 2026
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market-analysis
Cheap to buy, dear to run: England's council tax burden gap 2026
In some English unitary authorities the council tax on a typical home tops 1.8% of its price; in others it is barely a third of that.
14 July 2026
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market-analysis
London Borough Monthly Cost: Mortgage vs Council Tax 2026
Council tax swings 2.5x across the capital, but it is under 11% of the monthly cost of a median home in every borough — the mortgage sets the bill.
2 July 2026
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market-analysis
London council tax vs house prices: a borough inversion (2026)
Kensington & Chelsea homes cost three times a Barking home — yet the headline council tax is lower. All 33 boroughs, ranked.
2 July 2026
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market-analysis
Price per square foot: 19 UK cities ranked for 2026
The cost of space itself, ranked across 19 UK cities using Land Registry sale prices and verified EPC floor areas.
27 June 2026
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market-analysis
Greenest UK housing stock by city: 13 cities ranked, 2026
Newcastle and Newport top the table, Birmingham trails — and the reason is almost entirely the age of the bricks.
25 June 2026
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market-analysis
The cheapest way into a UK city centre: flat prices in 2026
A central flat costs £170,000 in Leeds but £530,000 in inner London — here is the 2026 price ladder for five major city centres.
21 June 2026
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market-analysis
The most expensive postcodes in England and Wales (2026)
One central London district recorded a £2.45m median sale last year — yet pays less council tax than a £900,000 house in Surrey.
21 June 2026
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market-analysis
City-centre flats hold greener EPC ratings than houses, 2026
Across five major English cities, flats are far more likely to hold an EPC of C or above than the wider housing stock — a structural quirk of when they were built.
20 June 2026
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market-analysis
Which UK cities are most new-build heavy? 2024 share by city
Salford led the country with 32.7% of 2024 sales being new builds — more than triple the UK average. Full city-by-city ranking from Land Registry data.
22 May 2026
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market-analysis
Do new-builds lose value? 253,000 UK repeat sales, 2010-2025
Quarter-million-pair Land Registry analysis controlling for the local HPI — the depreciation story is largely a flats story.
21 May 2026
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market-analysis
Most expensive London postcodes in 2025: where the £1M+ market clusters
Thirteen postcode districts captured 45% of London's £1M+ trading cash in 2025. The full ranking, with medians, mix, and £/sqft.
20 May 2026
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market-analysis
UK 'just-under' pricing patterns at SDLT thresholds: 2025 findings
Empirical Land Registry analysis: when buyers price below a slab, they pick the round -£5,000 notch, not £xx9,950.
20 May 2026