These are the 10 most and least expensive towns in Britain
Kensington and Chelsea has been named Britain's most expensive neighbourhood, with an average price of £11,321 per square metre. Despite prices dropping one per cent in the last year, the borough’s per square metre average is still five times higher than the national average of £2,216, according to a report by Halifax.
Other London areas boasting average prices of over £9,000 per square metre include Westminster (£10,552) and Camden (£9,012). The report found that property prices per square metre have risen by 432 per cent in Greater London against a national average increase of 251 per cent over the past two decades.
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The five most expensive towns outside southern England are Solihull (£2,661) and Leamington Spa (£2,645), Altrincham ( £2,634), Edinburgh (£2,355) and Harrogate (£2,342) among others.
Meanwhile six of the 10 least expensive areas in Great Britain are outside England, the cheapest of them all being Airdrie in Scotland where average price per square metre stood at £1,019.
Other cheap areas included Scottish towns Lanark (£1,040), Coatbridge (£1,071) and Kilmarnock (£1,120), and Welsh towns Llanelli (£1,028) and Neath (£1,065). The four English towns with the lowest house prices on a per square metre basis are all in northern England – Scunthorpe (£1,036), Accrington (£1,055), Hartlepool (£1,062) and Wallasey (£1,067).
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Chris Gowland, mortgages director, Halifax, said: “House price per square metre can be a useful comparison measure as it helps to adjust for differences in the size and type of properties between locations.
“In particular, there has been a marked widening in the north/south property divide over the past two decades as prices per square metre have risen by 432 per cent over this period in Greater London – more than twice the increase in areas outside of southern England. The consistent gap between southern England – led by London – and the rest of the country over the past two decades – is a trend that has embedded itself throughout the last five years.”
The 10 most expensive towns in Britain
| Area | Price per square metre |
| Kensington & Chelsea | £11,321 |
| Westminster | £10,552 |
| Camden | £9,012 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | £8,635 |
| Islington | £7,964 |
| Wandsworth | £6,959 |
| Hackney | £6,860 |
| Southwark | £6,484 |
| Richmond upon Thames | £6,446 |
| Tower Hamlets | £6,432 |
The 10 least expensive towns in Britain
| Area | Price per square metre |
| Airdrie | £1,019 |
| Llanelli | £1,028 |
| Scunthorpe | £1,036 |
| Lanark | £1,040 |
| Accrington | £1,055 |
| Hartlepool | £1,062 |
| Neath | £1,065 |
| Wallasey | £1,067 |
| Coatbridge | £1,071 |
| Kilmarnock | £1,120 |