Research by Comparethemarket.com has found that homeowners taking their second step on the property ladder face an average price gap of £30,055 to make the leap, and reveals which UK regions have the shortest housing ladders.
How easy it is to take the next step on the housing ladder can vary significantly depending on where you live in the UK. Comparethemarket.com has analysed housing market data to reveal where in the UK the price between property types is at its least, which means it’s financially easier to move up the ladder from a flat to a terraced house, to a semi-detached property and finally a detached home.
In the UK, the average price difference between a terrace and a semi-detached house is £58,620, with this step costing just £8,251 in Wales. In Haringey, London this would cost £327,705 (53% step from terraced to semi), and Nottingham has the smallest second step with semi-detached properties priced at just 6% more than terraced (+£33,340).
The top five shortest ladders
With the national average price difference of 39% on each of the steps up towards a detached property, it might be surprising to learn that London made it into the top five along with Manchester, Nottingham, Bristol and Stoke on Trent.
The easiest city for first-time buyers to climb the housing the ladder is Manchester. With the overall shortest ladder, it has an average price difference between property types of just 27%. A flat in Manchester costs on average £154,424, rising to £157,736 for a terraced home, £207,315 for a semi-detached, and £303,042 for a detached.
Coming a close second is Nottingham, where flats start at an affordable £109,704. Prices don’t increase much at £150,084 for a semi-detached home, and the overall average price difference between property types is 30%.
While first-time buyers might not consider London an obvious choice for a first home, the high initial prices are offset by the proportional increases as you climb the ladder, which is only an average of 30%. The average cost of a flat is £420,037, and a detached house costs £901,123.
In Bristol, buyers can purchase an average terraced house at about two-thirds of the average starting price of a flat in London: only £277,194. From there it’s only a small step up of 18% to move up the ladder and buy a semi-detached property.
Homeowners in Stoke on Trent can purchase a terraced house for under £90,000, and with a 27% step up to a semi-detached property at £111,702, it makes climbing the ladder an accessible opportunity for first-time buyers especially.
And the steepest increase between property types?
The London Borough of Haringey has the steepest increase in price between property types. Starting at £475,967 for a flat, the prices hike up by 29% to £615,902 for a terraced house — and then the jump from a semi-detached home to a detached property is a colossal 93%.
