Cash sales: Biggest shifts in outright property purchases in the UK
- A new study uncovers the dramatic rise and fall of cash property sales in the UK over the last decade.
- Inverclyde saw a staggering 39.4% surge in cash sales since 2013, with over half of all properties bought outright in 2023.
- In stark contrast, Harlow witnessed a shocking 44.9% plunge in cash buyers during the same period.
New research has revealed the areas with the largest changes in the percentage of properties bought outright in the UK.
The study, conducted by UK mortgage broker SPF.co.uk, utilised data from the HM Land Registry to compare the percentage of properties sold as cash sales in every local authority between 2013 and 2023. The focus was on the change in the portion of all sales that were cash purchases within the decade rather than the total number of properties bought in cash. The figures were then calculated for each local authority and ranked according to the regions with the largest changes.
The area with the largest increase is Inverclyde, with a 39.4% jump in the percentage of properties sold as cash. In 2013, 36% of all homes were bought outright, but this jumped to 50.1% last year. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the average house price here is £123,000, with first-time buyers paying £100,000 on average for their first properties as of April 2024. This latter figure is an increase of £10,000 compared to last year.
Next in line, Hart in Hampshire follows suit with a 26.1% increase. In 2023, there were 379 properties bought in cash according to the Land Registry, equaling 33.5% of all property sales. According to the latest provisional data from the ONS, the average property here costs £467,000 – a huge 63% above the national average (£285,000 as of December 2023).
The third largest increase was seen in Solihull in the West Midlands. Here, cash sales have taken up 35.8% of all properties last year compared to 28.6% in 2013, resulting in a 25.4% rise overall. Currently, the ONS reports a property here costs, on average, £337,000, a 47% rise above nearby Birmingham’s average price (£228,000).
Fourth place is Rushcliffe, with a 22.9% rise between the two periods. The ONS reports that first-time buyers pay £275,000 for their property here, though the average house price is £346,000. The region, located southwest of Nottingham, saw 36.2% of properties sold outright last year compared to 29.5% in 2013, though similar levels of cash sale properties have remained (596 in 2013 to 568 in 2023).
Ranking fifth is Redcar and Cleveland, with a rise of 21.9%. The area, just outside of Middlesbrough, currently has an average house price of £158,000, according to ONS data, with first-time buyers paying an average of £141,000 on a property. Additionally, in 2023, 682 properties were bought outright, representing 40.7% of all properties sold here.
Top 10 areas with the largest increase, ranked
| Rank | Local authority | Cash sales 2013 | Cash sales 2023 | Percentage – cash sales 2013 | Percentage – cash sales 2023 | Total sales change |
| 1 | Inverclyde | 371 | 591 | 36.0% | 50.1% | 39.4% |
| 2 | Hart | 432 | 379 | 26.6% | 33.5% | 26.1% |
| 3 | Solihull | 881 | 857 | 28.6% | 35.8% | 25.4% |
| 4 | Rushcliffe | 596 | 568 | 29.5% | 36.2% | 22.9% |
| 5 | Redcar and Cleveland | 536 | 682 | 33.4% | 40.7% | 21.9% |
| 6 | City of Aberdeen | 1613 | 1445 | 29.2% | 35.4% | 21.34% |
| 7 | Kensington and Chelsea | 1298 | 855 | 49.1% | 59.5% | 21.29% |
| 8 | Gateshead | 635 | 681 | 26.2% | 31.7% | 21.0% |
| 9 | City of London | 215 | 83 | 49.7% | 59.7% | 20.3% |
| 10 | Na h-Eileanan Siar | 109 | 157 | 44.7% | 53.6% | 20.0% |
In sixth place is the City of Aberdeen, where the portion of cash sales rose 21.3% between 2013 and 2023. The ONS currently reports the average house price is £126,000 for the city, with the average price paid by first-time buyers is £105,000. Last year, 1,445 properties were bought in cash, proving a hot spot for buyers.
At the other end of the UK, Kensington and Chelsea take seventh place after seeing a difference of 21.2%. One of the wealthiest places in the country, the region’s average house price stands at £1.11 million. Last year, there were 855 cash sales, making up 59.5% of total sales.
Next, Gateshead in Tyne and Wear places eighth. The region saw a 21% rise in the proportion of all house sales purchased in cash. Last year, 681 properties were bought outright, with the average cost here currently being £157,000, according to ONS data.
The City of London comes in ninth place, with a 20.3% rise. Despite a lower number of properties sold in cash in 2023 compared to 2013, the proportion bought outright sat at 59.7% compared to 2013’s 49.7%. ONS data does not provide information on the average house price, though Rightmove reports a price of £888,000, and Zoopla reports the average cost being £1.07 million for properties sold within the last year.
Finishing off the top ten is Na h-Eileanan Siar which is in the Outer Hebrides region of northwest Scotland. The area has seen a 20% increase in the percentage of cash sales, as in 2023, 53.6% of all houses were bought in cash compared to 44.7% a decade before.
At the other end of the study, Harlow in Essex was revealed as the area with the most significant decrease in the proportion of cash purchases between the two years, with a 44.9% fall. According to ONS data, Harlow’s average house costs £309,000. In 2013, cash purchases comprised 26.3% of all house properties, but in 2023 this fell to just 14.5%.
In second place is Barking and Dagenham, which saw a 41.4% decline. The London borough had one of the smallest chunks of properties bought in cash at just 9.8% last year, though this figure was already lower than most in 2013 at 16.7%. Just 99 properties were bought in cash last year, and the average price sits at £330,000.
Thurrock takes third place after seeing the percentage of cash sales drop from 21% in 2013 to 12.5% in 2023, a 40.5% decrease. As it stands, the region saw 172 houses bought outright last year, compared to 442 in 2013, and ONS data reports that the average house costs £303,000.
On the other side of London’s outskirts, Slough comes in fourth with a decrease of 39.7%. Slough saw just 92 properties bought in cash in 2023. As of the most recent estimate from the ONS, house prices are averaging £330,000 at present.
Another area not too far from England’s capital, Luton, takes fifth place with a proportion decrease of 35.2%. Last year, 247 properties were bought outright, representing just 16.5% of all purchases. Now, ONS data reports the average price to be £270,000.
Top 10 areas with the largest decrease, ranked
| Rank | Local authority | Cash sales 2013 | Cash sales 2023 | Percentage – cash sales 2013 | Percentage – cash sales 2023 | Total sales change |
| 1 | Harlow | 279 | 120 | 26.3% | 14.5% | -44.9% |
| 2 | Barking and Dagenham | 299 | 99 | 16.7% | 9.8% | -41.4% |
| 3 | Thurrock | 442 | 172 | 21.0% | 12.5% | -40.5% |
| 4 | Slough | 257 | 92 | 18.1% | 10.9% | -39.7% |
| 5 | Luton | 531 | 247 | 25.4% | 16.5% | -35.2% |
| 6 | Crawley | 290 | 142 | 21.1% | 14.6% | -30.8% |
| 7 | Medway | 1040 | 560 | 27.4% | 19.1% | -30.5% |
| 8 | Stevenage | 260 | 130 | 24.7% | 17.2% | -30.3% |
| 9 | Waltham Forest | 591 | 311 | 20.3% | 14.5% | -28.7% |
| 10 | Swindon | 1025 | 558 | 28.8% | 20.7% | -28.4% |
Continuing the Southern trend, Crawley in West Sussex places sixth. The area has seen a decrease of 30.8% in cash sales, representing 14.6% of properties sold last year. ONS data reports the average house price here is £308,000.
Medway in Kent comes next, with a fall of 30.5%. Here, the average house will set buyers back £285,000, and ONS data reports that first-time buyers will likely spend £256,000 on their property. The number of properties bought in cash last year totalled 19.1% of all purchases.
Next, Stevenage in Hertfordshire ranks eighth after a drop of 30.3%. The number of properties sold in cash last year (130) is precisely half that of those sold through the same means a decade previously (260). ONS data reports the average property costs £330,000, and cash purchases totalled 17.2% of all properties bought last year.
The ninth region with the most considerable decrease is Waltham Forest, at 28.7% less than 2013. One of the cheaper London boroughs, first-time buyers here paid £452,000 for a property, whilst the average house prices stand at £478,000 according to the ONS.
Rounding off the list is Swindon. The area saw a 28.4% decrease in cash sales, with just 558 properties (20.7% of total sales) sold last year. Presently, the ONS reports an average cost here of £258,000.
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