Throughout the United Kingdom, each of the four countries that make up its foundations can be costly to live in – alas, it remains undeniable that the UK can be a pricey place to live. This is especially true in current times where the current cost of living is increasingly high, and the price of housing is no exception to this fact. Although there are some cheaper UK cities, according to The Guardian, the average house prices in 2022 have surpassed the £260,000 mark for the first time. Compared to other areas in Europe, houses in the UK are relatively expensive. But whilst this figure may be the average house price for the majority of the UK, there are some stark exceptions that can be seen in some of the most costly streets up and down the sovereign state.
What Causes Areas of the UK to be so Expensive?
A key reason for the expensive range of house prices is, to begin with, that each of the countries that are within the UK is relatively small and thus the living options are slim. Land, and therefore properties, are limited and so house prices can remain at the higher end of the market scale. However, throughout 2022 property prices have been rising even further throughout the UK.
Out of the four countries, Wales and Scotland saw a 16.2% increase in the average property price in 2022. The average house price on the Welsh market reached record levels of £212,000 in April, while average Scotland property prices reached a record high of £188,000.
Meanwhile, house prices in England saw just an 11.9% increase in April 2022, with the average property price reaching just under £300,000 (though, of course, this figure differs greatly across the different areas of England).
Northern Ireland saw the lowest increase in house prices, despite the increase being more than 10%. Northern Ireland house prices have seen a 10.4% increase since March 2022, with the average home costing £165,000.
But within these countries, whereabouts are the priciest streets, and why are they so much more expensive than what the average UK citizen can afford?
A Look at The Streets of England and Wales
To first turn to England, it is likely no surprise that the most expensive streets are in London – a city renounced for its costly living climate. In fact, the average house price in London is 241.35% more expensive than a house in the North East of the country. London is expensive because it is the main city of England and houses a huge population, leaving the property market unable to keep up with its increasing demand.
But what is the most expensive street in the priciest city in the UK? From 2021 onwards, Tite Street in the London Borough of Chelsea and Kensington has moved to the top of this city’s property tree – with an average house price of £28.9 million – replacing Avenue Road in London’s St John’s Wood as the most costly London street. Tite street resides in a fantastic location, set between the banks of the River Thames to the South and the famous Kings Road to the North.
Second on the list is Phillimore Gardens, with average house prices on the prestigious street near Kensington and Holland Park at £25.1 million. In third, a home on Mayfair’s South Audley Street will set buyers back over £22 million on average.
In fact, London streets continue to dominate the Top 10 most expensive streets in the UK.
But to move to Wales – the country with the second-highest rise in house prices in 2022 – the top ten most expensive streets all also had house prices of over one million pounds as of February 2022. However, Benar Headland in Pwllheli topped the ranking with the average price of residential properties at over £1.43 million. This is in distinct comparison with the average house price in Wales, which was recorded as less than £200,000 in 2021.
A Look at The Streets of Scotland and Northern Ireland
Next on the list is Scotland. In Scotland, Edinburgh has some of the highest house prices in the country due to being the main city of the nation. Regent Terrace in Edinburgh is at the top of the property tree, according to Bank of Scotland’s research into Scotland’s most expensive streets in 2021. For the second year in a row, a home in this address has an average price of £1.68 million – this is not only due to its beautiful city views which are protected by a skyline policy, but because it is set in a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The other top five streets can also all be found in Edinburgh. Following Regent Street comes Ann Street with average house prices of £1.59 million, Danube Street with an average of £1.41 million, then finally Wester Coates Gardens and Hope Terrace complete the streets which dominate at the top of Edinburgh’s housing market.
In fact, just two of the top 10 most expensive streets in Scotland fall outside of Edinburgh, with The Scores in St. Andrews at an average of £1.28 million and Glasgow’s Earls Gate at an average of £1.17 million.
Finally, what are the most expensive streets in Northern Ireland? A house in Drumbo Road can set you back anywhere from £1.7 million while on Broomhill Park in Belfast, a tree-lined avenue that boasts detached houses with character features and plentiful garden space, house valuations can be made at around £1.5 million due to the beautiful features and one acre of mature gardens its properties offer.
While this may not be as expensive as some of the other pricey streets in the UK, the impressive heights that these streets reach to on the property market displays just how desired certain areas really are. This perhaps helps to point to where some of the best UK cities and streets reside, and illustrates the width of the property market in each of the four sovereign state countries.
