The BBC has delved into Land Registry data to reveal the areas across England and Wales where property has yet to reach £1m.
Highlighting 16 places where no house sale topped the £1m mark, the latest findings show that even the grandest of homes can be bought at a bargain price.
Sales of £1m-plus homes hit a new high last year. In fact, 16,119 property sales worth £1m or more were completed in 2017, up 5.4% from the previous high in 2016. Previous research also shows that University cities such as Cambridge and Bristol have seen £1m-plus sales surge. Plus, one-bedroom flats often sell for millions in London.
However, despite the rise, the latest findings show that there are still many areas that haven’t reached a seven-figure sum.
The homes which don’t top the £1m mark are located primarily in the North West of England and Wales. In Gateshead, the most expensive home sold for £999,000.
The sixteen areas that haven’t achieved a £1m sale since 2007 are:
- Gateshead
- Worcester
- Tameside
- Halton
- Hyndburn
- Torfaen
- Gloucester
- Pendle
- Mansfield
- Burnley
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Ashfield
- Knowsley
- Barrow-in-Furness
- Blaenau Gwent
- Merthyr Tydfil
Commenting on the research, local experts claim that the relatively low prices appeal to investors, first-time buyers, and pensioners and that people are attracted to the area because they can get more for their money. In particular, buy-to-let investors are encouraged by areas with a stable local market – without the risk of boom or bust – and a steady demand from tenants.
However, there is also no absence of luxury among these sub-million properties with many first-time buyers snapping up homes that people in other parts of the country can only dream about.
For example, you can buy a five-bedroom detached home in Worcester – complete with games room, sauna, gym and wine cellar – for £950,000. Furthermore, a gated five-bedroom house built in 1890, with original features including a servants’ bells and oak panelling, is on the market in Pendle for £875,000. And sellers in Hyndburn are asking for under £875,000 for a 19th-century four-bedroom farmhouse with 15 acres of land, and stables for ten horses.
Unsurprisingly, over the last ten years, most £1m-plus properties were sold in London.
HM Land Registry does not cover addresses in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
