Britain’s strongest housing markets revealed
The latest research from Benham and Reeves reveals the best-performing housing markets across Great Britain when it comes to the average rate of house price growth seen over the course of 2025, with the northern regions and Scotland outperforming most of the rest of the country with annual price growth of up to 11%.
Last week, the UK government released the most recent UK House Price Index (December 2025), which means we now have access to sold price data for all of 2025 for the very first time. As such, Benham and Reeves can now reveal which of Britain’s housing markets produced the strongest price performances of 2025.
Across the full 12 months of 2025, Great Britain recorded overall average house price growth of 1.9%, to end the year at £272,618. This modest national growth, however, belies some significantly stronger regional performances.
The North East has seen the strongest growth. The region’s average price in December reached £165,257, marking an annual increase of 6.7%.
Meanwhile, the North West saw growth of 4.6%, followed by Wales at 4.3%, and Yorkshire & Humber with growth of 4%.
Only three regions saw prices fall across 2025, and they are also the most expensive regional markets in the country.
London’s average price fell by -2.2% to end the year at £551,294, while the South East (-0.6%), and South West (-0.2%) also recorded drops.
While a number of regions saw impressive price growth across 2025, it’s nothing compared to the performance seen in some Local Authority (LA) districts.
South Tyneside and Northumberland, both in the North East, have seen the strongest growth at 10.9% and 10.7% respectively.
Scotland features heavily, with Argyll and Bute (10.3%), South Lanarkshire (9.6%), West Dunbartonshire (9.3%), Orkney Islands (9%), and Clackmannanshire (8.8%) all featuring in the ten strongest-performing LA districts, along with Stevenage (8.8%) in the East of England, Forest of Dean (8.7%) in the South West, and Isle of Anglesey (8.6%) in Wales.
Moving outside of the top 10, the North West’s strongest-performing LA district in 2025 was Liverpool (8.3%), the West Midlands’ best market was Stratford (8.1%), and Rushmoor led the South East (8%).
Bradford was the strongest market in Yorkshire & Humber with annual growth of 7.1%, and Bromley led the way in London with growth of 6.3%.
Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, commented:
“While headline house price growth across Great Britain remained relatively modest in 2025, the underlying regional story is far more dynamic. Northern markets and Scotland, in particular, have demonstrated robust and consistent momentum, driven by relative affordability, sustained buyer demand, and improving economic confidence.
At the same time, we’ve seen price corrections across some of the traditionally more expensive southern markets, as higher borrowing costs and stretched affordability continue to influence buyer behaviour.
As we move further into 2026, we expect this regional divergence to persist in the short term, with comparatively affordable markets continuing to outperform. However, as mortgage rates stabilise and confidence strengthens, we anticipate a gradual return to more balanced, widespread growth across the UK market as a whole.”
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