Where are the cheapest places to rent or buy?
Rentround
June 14, 2021
Prices are crazy high right now. Pent up demand & the stamp duty holiday are have pushed house prices up by 8.6%.
In addition, tenants are on the move. The eviction ban has been lifted and there is a shift towards moving away from the cities as the working from home movement gains traction.
As estate & letting agents collect their fees, landlords see their constraints lifted, tenants move to the suburbs and investors analyse massive data swings, the past 18 months have provided a host of turbulent events to the property industry.
The average prices to buy and rent in the UK are £267,000 and £866 (pcm), respectively – all time highs.
So for those on a budget, where are the cheapest places to rent or buy a property?
[Sources:Rentround, Property Data, Homesearch]
Cheapest places to rent a property in 20201
The North East dominates proceedings, with 3 of the top 5 cheapest places to rent
Darlington takes the top spot with an average monthly rent of £464.
Specifically, DL4 – Shildon, is the cheapest postcode in Darlington, with an average monthly rent of £394 per month, £15 more than last year.
Carlisle sits in 2nd place, with an average monthly rent of £479 per month. CA14 Workington provides the cheapest place for renters with an average monthly rent of £422.
Following the top 2 are North East located Cleveland & Sunderland, with Blackburn completing the top 5.
Cheapest places to rent: The top 10
| # | City/Town | Average monthly rent |
| 1 | Darlington | £464.20 |
| 2 | Carlisle | £479.50 |
| 3 | Cleveland | £480.85 |
| 4 | Sunderland | £490.43 |
| 5 | Blackburn | £515.00 |
| 6 | Doncaster | £515.50 |
| 7 | Durham | £527.33 |
| 8 | Hull | £543.00 |
| 9 | Halifax | £551.50 |
| 10 | Blackpool | £568.75 |
Cheapest places to buy a property in 2021
As can be expected, the participants in the cheapest places to rent are similar to the areas where it’s the cheapest to buy a property… with a few place swaps.
Sunderland, just £26 pcm more expensive than 1st placed Darlington on the cheapest places to rent table, tops the cheapest places to buy a property in the UK list.
The North East city tops it’s 2nd placed competition (Cleveland) by just over £10,000 to buy a property.
Durham & Darlington complete the top 4 cheapest places to buy a property, making it a clean sweep for North East cities topping the list.
Cheapest places to buy a property: The top 10
| # | City/Town | Average purchase price |
| 1 | Sunderland | £119,045.00 |
| 2 | Cleveland | £129,748.73 |
| 3 | Durham | £139,820.00 |
| 4 | Darlington | £142,514.89 |
| 5 | Carlisle | £142,719.00 |
| 6 | Halifax | £144,822.50 |
| 7 | Blackburn | £148,795.17 |
| 8 | Doncaster | £152,139.08 |
| 9 | Hull | £152,929.18 |
| 10 | Blackpool | £153,074.25 |
Full list of data
Full list of the cheapest places to rent a property
| # | City/Town | Average monthly rent |
| 1 | Darlington | £464.20 |
| 2 | Carlisle | £479.50 |
| 3 | Cleveland | £480.85 |
| 4 | Sunderland | £490.43 |
| 5 | Blackburn | £515.00 |
| 6 | Doncaster | £515.50 |
| 7 | Durham | £527.33 |
| 8 | Hull | £543.00 |
| 9 | Halifax | £551.50 |
| 10 | Blackpool | £568.75 |
| 11 | Bradford | £573.38 |
| 12 | Lancaster | £574.67 |
| 13 | Huddersfield | £587.00 |
| 14 | Wigan | £587.00 |
| 15 | Wakefield | £594.14 |
| 16 | Newcastle | £599.78 |
| 17 | Sheffield | £609.45 |
| 18 | Oldham | £613.67 |
| 19 | Stoke on Trent | £620.60 |
| 20 | Bolton | £623.00 |
| 21 | Chester | £635.00 |
| 22 | Lincoln | £638.17 |
| 23 | Liverpool | £644.88 |
| 24 | Crewe | £645.88 |
| 25 | Newport | £648.00 |
| 26 | Preston | £650.89 |
| 27 | Plymouth | £654.50 |
| 28 | Dudley | £660.00 |
| 29 | Llandudno | £661.00 |
| 30 | Wolverhampton | £668.11 |
| 31 | Walsall | £681.22 |
| 32 | Derby | £682.80 |
| 33 | Nottingham | £685.79 |
| 34 | Telford | £689.71 |
| 35 | Worcester | £694.75 |
| 36 | Swansea | £710.50 |
| 37 | Hereford | £717.25 |
| 38 | Torquay | £720.25 |
| 39 | Warrington | £723.36 |
| 40 | Leicester | £746.18 |
| 41 | Shrewsbury | £765.25 |
| 42 | Peterborough | £767.32 |
| 43 | Birmingham | £773.51 |
| 44 | Stockport | £796.15 |
| 45 | Leeds | £800.86 |
| 46 | Taunton | £808.75 |
| 47 | York | £813.09 |
| 48 | Northampton | £820.17 |
| 49 | Manchester | £827.07 |
| 50 | Dorchester | £827.33 |
| 51 | Exeter | £829.83 |
| 52 | Cardiff | £831.20 |
| 53 | Norwich | £834.15 |
| 54 | Swindon | £842.50 |
| 55 | Coventry | £851.75 |
| 56 | Ipswich | £877.08 |
| 57 | Salisbury | £888.20 |
| 58 | Gloucester | £890.40 |
| 59 | Luton | £890.71 |
| 60 | Bath | £894.86 |
| 61 | Harrogate | £896.75 |
| 62 | Colchester | £911.88 |
| 63 | Canterbury | £937.78 |
| 64 | Medway | £954.25 |
| 65 | Southampton | £984.53 |
| 66 | Portsmouth | £984.86 |
| 67 | Milton Keynes | £992.70 |
| 68 | Southend | £1,003.33 |
| 69 | Stevenage | £1,022.20 |
| 70 | Bristol | £1,032.05 |
| 71 | Tonbridge | £1,034.62 |
| 72 | Bournemouth | £1,055.93 |
| 73 | Reading | £1,074.71 |
| 74 | Cambridge | £1,076.64 |
| 75 | Chelmsford | £1,082.00 |
| 76 | Oxford | £1,086.00 |
| 77 | Redhill | £1,091.50 |
| 78 | Brighton | £1,114.00 |
| 79 | Hemel | £1,147.26 |
| 80 | Dartford | £1,157.78 |
| 81 | Croydon | £1,178.71 |
| 82 | Sutton | £1,190.50 |
| 83 | Enfield | £1,231.00 |
| 84 | Guilford | £1,253.50 |
| 85 | Romford | £1,259.14 |
| 86 | Watford | £1,261.89 |
| 87 | Southall | £1,263.10 |
| 88 | Truro | £1,276.50 |
| 89 | St. Albans | £1,286.75 |
| 90 | Slough | £1,290.30 |
| 91 | Ilford | £1,347.64 |
| 92 | Bromley | £1,351.33 |
| 93 | Twickenham | £1,369.06 |
| 94 | Harrow | £1,384.00 |
| 95 | Kingston | £1,481.67 |
| 96 | London | £1,675.13 |
Full list of the cheapest places to buy a property
New wpDataTable
| # | City/Town | Average purchase price |
| 1 | Sunderland | £119,045.00 |
| 2 | Cleveland | £129,748.73 |
| 3 | Durham | £139,820.00 |
| 4 | Darlington | £142,514.89 |
| 5 | Carlisle | £142,719.00 |
| 6 | Halifax | £144,822.50 |
| 7 | Blackburn | £148,795.17 |
| 8 | Doncaster | £152,139.08 |
| 9 | Hull | £152,929.18 |
| 10 | Blackpool | £153,074.25 |
| 11 | Wigan | £159,811.43 |
| 12 | Bradford | £163,758.11 |
| 13 | Newcastle | £164,599.04 |
| 14 | Liverpool | £170,556.47 |
| 15 | Llandudno | £174,294.00 |
| 16 | Wakefield | £176,447.22 |
| 17 | Bolton | £176,518.83 |
| 18 | Sheffield | £176,660.22 |
| 19 | Huddersfield | £180,430.17 |
| 20 | Newport | £182,853.00 |
| 21 | Oldham | £184,569.00 |
| 22 | Wolverhampton | £191,230.44 |
| 23 | Chester | £191,671.20 |
| 24 | Stoke on Trent | £194,769.92 |
| 25 | Lancaster | £195,029.80 |
| 26 | Preston | £198,199.00 |
| 27 | Plymouth | £204,323.80 |
| 28 | Dudley | £212,890.88 |
| 29 | Nottingham | £213,327.76 |
| 30 | Manchester | £213,606.37 |
| 31 | Cardiff | £215,012.42 |
| 32 | Swansea | £215,727.17 |
| 33 | Walsall | £216,926.11 |
| 34 | Telford | £223,554.88 |
| 35 | Lincoln | £225,582.67 |
| 36 | Leeds | £226,495.24 |
| 37 | Crewe | £227,505.88 |
| 38 | Derby | £231,160.84 |
| 39 | Norwich | £240,336.15 |
| 40 | Birmingham | £245,917.09 |
| 41 | Warrington | £252,566.88 |
| 42 | Peterborough | £254,012.96 |
| 43 | Worcester | £259,393.00 |
| 44 | York | £261,770.80 |
| 45 | Ipswich | £265,252.71 |
| 46 | Taunton | £265,293.71 |
| 47 | Northampton | £266,203.78 |
| 48 | Leicester | £266,446.67 |
| 49 | Shrewsbury | £268,326.29 |
| 50 | Coventry | £273,381.24 |
| 51 | Stockport | £274,002.43 |
| 52 | Colchester | £281,226.78 |
| 53 | Exeter | £287,670.14 |
| 54 | Hereford | £288,024.17 |
| 55 | Torquay | £288,691.11 |
| 56 | Truro | £290,016.25 |
| 57 | Luton | £291,371.71 |
| 58 | Dorchester | £291,896.80 |
| 59 | Portsmouth | £292,901.58 |
| 60 | Canterbury | £303,644.30 |
| 61 | Medway | £304,157.83 |
| 62 | Swindon | £306,753.14 |
| 63 | Salisbury | £307,971.00 |
| 64 | Gloucester | £313,598.67 |
| 65 | Bournemouth | £319,917.50 |
| 66 | Bath | £324,174.78 |
| 67 | Grand Total | £325,704.24 |
| 68 | Milton Keynes | £326,000.48 |
| 69 | Harrogate | £329,250.40 |
| 70 | Bristol | £333,196.57 |
| 71 | Southend | £338,342.89 |
| 72 | Dartford | £347,419.67 |
| 73 | Brighton | £349,548.62 |
| 74 | Southampton | £357,953.71 |
| 75 | Tonbridge | £378,729.73 |
| 76 | Romford | £380,943.29 |
| 77 | Stevenage | £391,075.30 |
| 78 | Cambridge | £403,091.57 |
| 79 | Sutton | £406,246.83 |
| 80 | Croydon | £412,044.14 |
| 81 | Oxford | £413,012.67 |
| 82 | Reading | £416,281.18 |
| 83 | Southall | £417,204.80 |
| 84 | Redhill | £424,085.00 |
| 85 | Chelmsford | £429,043.44 |
| 86 | Guilford | £445,339.65 |
| 87 | Hemel | £454,576.52 |
| 88 | Enfield | £463,099.00 |
| 89 | Watford | £483,028.33 |
| 90 | Ilford | £491,909.91 |
| 91 | Slough | £499,306.30 |
| 92 | Bromley | £504,350.50 |
| 93 | Twickenham | £507,312.72 |
| 94 | Harrow | £520,425.50 |
| 95 | St. Albans | £524,030.50 |
| 96 | Kingston | £540,216.11 |
| 97 | London | £650,793.42 |
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