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Original poster

Average UK house price is £232,000

38 replies

Nextphonewontbesamsung · 08/09/2019 08:02

But what do we think of as the average house? To me it is a 1930s semi with 2 double bedrooms and a single, a front garden with drive and garage and a back garden of about 50ft. Do you think that's right?

OP posts:
CherryPlum · 08/09/2019 08:08

No I'd imagine the average house has a small garden, no garage

Iwanttoredecorateagain · 08/09/2019 08:09

That's what i always think of as average house but I'm probably wrong.

My house is a small 3 bed semi but nice gardens, no garage. Bought in 2011 for 100k.

Bobbybobbins · 08/09/2019 08:12

We probably have an average house worth about the average price - as you say OP it's a 3 bed semi with 2 doubles and a single! However we have a large garden but no garage.

cremeeggsonboxingday · 08/09/2019 08:12

Apart from the garden, which is a fraction of the size, you have just described my house. We bought it in 2013 for 250k and the value has since gone up 100k.

You probably won't be surprised to know we're in the SE

FAQs · 08/09/2019 08:13

I think I live in an average house, 3 bed, 2.2 bathrooms, drive, garage, garden etc but it’s only worth £160k I could afford a bigger house and the average cost would buy a 4 bed detached or a 2 bed desirable village traditional cottage. I like to have the extra money each month.

BuffaloCauliflower · 08/09/2019 08:15

That’s the average price of a property, not ‘the average property is that price’. Included in that sum are little flats and great big mansions.

But yes I’d say the average property is a 3 bed as you describe, with a garden. Maybe garage but not necessarily. I heard recently that most houses in the country have off street parking, but I live in a town area where that’s definitely not the case.

I rent an ‘average house’ and I wish it would cost £230,000 to buy because I’d buy it then.

Eatsshoootsandleaves · 08/09/2019 08:21

You've pretty much described my house. 1930's semi, two doubles one single, massive garden at the back and space for a drive at the front (no garage though). Our house is worth around £90k. £230k would get at least a four bed detached house here. I guess it's all relative to the area?

Ohhgreat · 08/09/2019 08:25

Hah round here a 2 bed mid terrace with small garden and no parking is £270k....

RednaxelasPony · 08/09/2019 08:30

That's not an average house because there are lots of smaller flats and houses in the UK stock. I think an average house would be a 2 bed flat or terrace, no garage, small yard or access to shared outdoor space.

Original poster
Nextphonewontbesamsung · 08/09/2019 08:38

That's interesting RednaxelasPony. I live in London where obviously millions of people live in flats but somehow I still think of the average house when considering the country as a whole as a 3 bed semi. I wonder if the office for national statistics has an internal sq ft area that they go on.

OP posts:
Bobbybobbins · 08/09/2019 08:46

Yes there is an average size in terms of square footage. I can't remember where I read it though. I was surprised when I checked our house's floor space that we were slightly under the average despite having a 3 bed semi.

CassianAndor · 08/09/2019 08:46

In my bit of London an average house is a Victorian 3 bed terrace (or a 1960s council/ex council flat), often with no garden to speak of.

You won’t be surprised to hear that they’re worth a lot more than £232,000....

I would love to live in a 1930s semi. I am so over living in a long, thin, drafty, badly insulated, impossible to heat, cost a fortune to double glaze Victorian house. But the location does tick a lot of boxes for us and we have made good friends round here.

HandsOffMyRights · 08/09/2019 08:56

My last house is worth just under that now.

Three bed 90s build. Corner detatched, garden, garage and large conservatory .

It was a slightly small house, in an area described as "very urban" by estate agent. It was a damn fine house too! I still miss it.

YobaOljazUwaque · 08/09/2019 08:58

Surely it massively depends on the area?

Our semi is worth £233k according to zoopla and has off road parking on a bit of what used to be front garden but no garage nor space for one. A small garden. Two double bedrooms and a single.

But it's an ex council house in a slightly down-at-heel but not too bad bit of a big city. According to Right move pretty much exactly the same size house with similar parking and garden in a naice area is at least £500k whereas deeper into the more grotty areas and in need of some updating, the same house would be £170k. The same foot print of house in an economically depressed area might be less than £140k

AlwaysCheddar · 08/09/2019 09:02

£232k barely gets you a flat where I am ....

HandsOffMyRights · 08/09/2019 09:10

Agreed Yoba. Vast differences between north and south and also in different neighbourhoods.

Mine had a large drive too.

But a not so amazing area, in the Midlands. That same detatched in a better area could be double the price.

Original poster
Nextphonewontbesamsung · 08/09/2019 09:11

No, Yoba, it doesn't depend on the area - that's the whole point. It is an average price across the whole of the UK. Everyone knows prices vary enormously from region to region, even post code to post code.

I'm just trying to imagine what kind of house, on average, £232,000 would buy you.

OP posts:
MrsPellegrinoPetrichor · 08/09/2019 09:15

It would just about buy a 2 bed flat here with no garden.

mizu · 08/09/2019 09:15

Relative to the area is right. We bought last summer - a maisonette, 2 double bedrooms, 1 bathroom and a big garden (although it is out the front so not particularly private) with a drive for 2 cars. £199,000. Super expensive area.

Average house for me would be 2 / 3 bed with small garden.

A 1930s 3 bed with 2 bathrooms and decent garden is not average I don't think but again totally depends where you live. The house next door but one to me has just sold, 3 bed and decent sized garden and it was on for £435,000 Shock

frasersmummy · 08/09/2019 09:15

I agree the average house is a 3 bed semi.
But up here in Scotland £230k would buy you a whole lot more. Just looking on right move you would almost certainly get 4 bed detached

If you wanted to stick with 3 bed you could get a lot of garden with it

OddBoots · 08/09/2019 09:16

I'm not sure if my area is unusual but over the past 5 years the proportion of flats to houses has changed massively, for every new house there are about 3-4 flats and some houses are now flats.

I don't know but I suspect that although it is called average house price they actually mean average home price and the shape and style of that average home has shifted quite a way in recent times.

booellesmum · 08/09/2019 09:17

I agree. If you asked me what an average house looked like I would say 3 bedroom semi (2 doubles/1 box room/1 bathroom)
We bought ours in around 1998 for 93,000.
Next door neighbour just had his valued at 260,000. No way could I afford that if I was buying now. House prices are insane.

Original poster
Nextphonewontbesamsung · 08/09/2019 09:20

Oh, I don't know how to make my question clearer! I'm glad some of you seem to have got it Grin

OP posts:
luckygreeneyes · 08/09/2019 09:25

The ONS data is based on the average price ie add together the prices of houses sold and divide by quantity. They will have no definition of the characteristics of an ‘average’ house

TinyMystery · 08/09/2019 09:29

Average house sounds pretty much as you describe, would probably set you back
£350k+ around here though.

Our tiny two bed terraced cottage with a large garden was just shy of £300k a couple of years ago.