2 Bedroom Middlesbrough or 2 Bedroom Dagenham.

There has always been a North and South divide and this is of course not just in terms of football… House prices have also been very wide apart, though with increasing prices in London this is surely at a level which was never the case before?

Of course, if we compare a detached residential property in Mayfair with a one bedroom flat in an ex mining village in Wales, then we will see a difference in figures that a pocket calculator would not hold… But I have picked two property on Rightmove, one North and the other South, very similar in location ie a major town, same sized and similar style of property and neighbourhood. Both nice property and ideal for first time buyers, young family or for retired couples etc.

Comparing both with a 15 year mortgage, first we have this two bedroom terraced in South Bank, Middlesbrough coming in at £17,500. A monthly repayment of £118 and a deposit of 10%, ie £1,7500.

or 16 times more expensive price and 16 times more expensive in monthly mortgage payments in a similar location, ie prominently ex-council property estate is this:

Both are close to major towns, though of course the property in Dagenham is close to London which is the Holy Grail it would appear for everyone… But the property in South Bank is still only 2.5 miles from a major town, Middlesbrough, has the same local amenities, though of course employment situation may be slightly different both in availability of work and average salary. If you have a business online though, and you are not precious on living near to London, the divide in prices in immense.

We have not looked at prices in between though which at some point will meet in the middle, not sure how far North / South you’ll be required to travel to get that ‘middle price’.

Land Registry, House Price Index 29th January 2016 report.

Christopher Walkey

Founder of Estate Agent Networking. Internationally invited speaker on how to build online target audiences using Social Media. Writes about UK property prices, housing, politics and affordable homes.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Mortgage approvals down 11% in May

The latest mortgage approval data from the Bank of England show that: –   Mortgage approvals on house purchases for May sat at 56,205 down (-14.9%) from 66,034 seen in April. Approvals are down (-10.8%) when compared to the 62,980 seen in May 2025. This annual decline was expected due to wider political and economic uncertainty;…
Read More
Breaking News

Money and Credit – May 2026

Overview These monthly statistics on the amount of, and interest rates on, borrowing and deposits by households and businesses are used by the Bank’s policy committees to understand economic trends and developments in the UK banking system. Key points: Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals decreased to £2.9 billion in May, from £4.4 billion…
Read More
Breaking News

More than 5,300 land listings currently available in Britain

The latest research from LandSale, the property portal dedicated to land and rural property, has revealed that there are an estimated 5,373 land listings currently available across Great Britain, with almost a quarter, 24.9%, listed in the past 30 days. The analysis examined all land-only listings currently being marketed across Great Britain. LandSale assessed the…
Read More
Breaking News

Build to rent completions rise 11.7%

New research from Zero Deposit reveals that the UK’s build-to-rent sector has continued its strong growth trajectory in 2026, with both delivery and investment volumes increasing year on year as demand for professionally managed rental accommodation remains robust. As the sector expands and operators manage larger portfolios of high-value rental homes, protecting rental income is becoming…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Has the doer-upper lost its shine?

First-time buyers, once the doer-upper’s natural market, have changed their priorities – and what they want now is certainty. For decades, the doer-upper held a particular place in British life: the tired house bought cheap, done up over years of weekends and sold on as the home it always promised to be. It was a…
Read More
Crowded beaches - Clacton-on-Sea in Essex
Breaking News

1 in 7 consider moving home to manage cooling costs in hotter weather

Two in five adults (40 per cent) say they would prefer to invest in home improvements to reduce overheating from the outset, rather than rely on cooling devices Three in 10 (30 per cent) are concerned about the impact of using electricity for cooling on their energy bills, while over four in 10 (44 per…
Read More