An original-data study by honestly
The UK City-Centre Property Index
92 districts · 10 cities · Updated 2026-06-15
As of 15 June 2026, across 92 city-centre postcode districts in 10 UK cities, the typical city-centre flat takes about 65 days to sell and is listed 6% below the local sold median of £247,250. The slowest centre, Birmingham B1, averages 149 days - about 5.7 times the fastest, Sheffield S2 at 26 days. Sold prices are HM Land Registry and Registers of Scotland records; asking prices are live listings, reported side by side.
Key findings
- The gap between the slowest and fastest city centre is roughly 5.7x: Birmingham B1 averages 149 days on the market, against 26 days in Sheffield S2.
- In 8 of 92 districts the median asking price sits below the median sold price. This is a composition signal, not a discount: the flats on sale today skew smaller and cheaper than the trailing two years of completed sales, so the two medians describe different stock.
- Stuck stock concentrates in the largest Midlands and North-West cores: Birmingham B1 has 31% of its available listings sitting 90+ days, against a 15% median across all 92 districts.
- Price per square metre spans 5.8x, from £12,500/m² in London EC2 to £2,143/m² in Sheffield S2 - the cleanest like-for-like comparison across cities.
- The typical city centre shows a median sold price of £247,250 and a median £3,320/m², across 1,389 live listings and 5,251 sales in the last twelve months.
Method
This index lays daily city-centre district reports side by side. Every figure is that district's own data: sold prices and price per square metre are HM Land Registry and Registers of Scotland data; asking prices, days on market and stuck-stock counts are live listings on the day the district was last refreshed. Nothing is blended into a valuation: the official transaction record and the live market sit next to each other.
This snapshot covers 92 city-centre districts across 10 cities (Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield), as of 2026-06-15. It is a sample of the most active city centres, not the whole of any city or the whole UK, and it grows as the daily rotation adds districts. You can download every number below.
1. How long a city-centre flat takes to sell
As of 15 June 2026, the spread is stark. Birmingham B1 averages 149 days on the market; Sheffield S2 turns over in 26. Time on market is the cleanest read on liquidity - how quickly a realistic asking price finds a buyer.
| # | City centre | Avg days on market | Sold median | Stuck 90+ days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham B1 | 149 | £225,000 | 31% |
| 2 | Liverpool L2 | 104 | £130,188 | 17% |
| 3 | London EC1 | 79 | £700,000 | 17% |
| 4 | London SE15 | 77 | £480,000 | 27% |
| 5 | Edinburgh EH1 | 77 | £345,000 | 15% |
| 6 | Leeds LS2 | 65 | £147,000 | 15% |
| 7 | Nottingham NG2 | 59 | £250,000 | 22% |
| 8 | Glasgow G1 | 52 | £185,000 | 13% |
| 9 | London EC2 | 44 | £817,500 | 11% |
| 10 | Bristol BS2 | 26 | £285,000 | 4% |
| 11 | Sheffield S2 | 26 | £150,000 | 3% |
2. Why asking prices sit below sold prices
This is the finding most likely to be misread. In 8 of 92 districts the median asking price is below the median sold price. That is not sellers discounting - it is a composition effect. The flats listed today are smaller and cheaper stock than the trailing two years of completed sales the sold median is built from, so the two medians are measuring different homes. Asking prices are vendor expectation; they are context beside the sold record, never evidence of value.
| # | City centre | Asking median | Sold median | Asking vs sold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London EC2 | £1,095,000 | £817,500 | +34.0% |
| 2 | Glasgow G1 | £185,000 | £185,000 | +0.0% |
| 3 | London EC1 | £700,000 | £700,000 | +0.0% |
| 4 | Liverpool L2 | £127,950 | £130,188 | -2.0% |
| 5 | Edinburgh EH1 | £330,000 | £345,000 | -4.0% |
| 6 | London SE15 | £450,000 | £480,000 | -6.0% |
| 7 | Leeds LS2 | £133,000 | £147,000 | -10.0% |
| 8 | Bristol BS2 | £250,000 | £285,000 | -12.0% |
| 9 | Birmingham B1 | £180,000 | £225,000 | -20.0% |
| 10 | Sheffield S2 | £120,000 | £150,000 | -20.0% |
| 11 | Nottingham NG2 | £170,000 | £250,000 | -32.0% |
3. Where stock gets stuck
A listing past 90 days is usually a pricing problem, not a market problem. Birmingham B1 carries the most: 31% of its available stock has sat 90+ days. The fastest centres barely register it. The same homes sell quickly when priced to the sold evidence and sit when priced to hope.
| # | City centre | Stuck 90+ days | Stuck / available | Avg days on market |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham B1 | 31% | 72 / 236 | 149 |
| 2 | London SE15 | 27% | 63 / 235 | 77 |
| 3 | Nottingham NG2 | 22% | 13 / 60 | 59 |
| 4 | London EC1 | 17% | 47 / 281 | 79 |
| 5 | Liverpool L2 | 17% | 10 / 60 | 104 |
| 6 | Edinburgh EH1 | 15% | 4 / 26 | 77 |
| 7 | Leeds LS2 | 15% | 9 / 61 | 65 |
| 8 | Glasgow G1 | 13% | 6 / 47 | 52 |
| 9 | London EC2 | 11% | 18 / 161 | 44 |
| 10 | Bristol BS2 | 4% | 3 / 67 | 26 |
| 11 | Sheffield S2 | 3% | 1 / 32 | 26 |
4. Price per square metre, city by city
Headline prices mislead because they mix flat sizes. Price per square metre is the honest cross-city comparison. It runs from £12,500/m² in London EC2 to £2,143/m² in Sheffield S2 - roughly 5.8 times.
| # | City centre | Price per m² | Sold median | Sales last 12m |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London EC2 | £12,500 | £817,500 | 61 |
| 2 | London EC1 | £10,479 | £700,000 | 171 |
| 3 | London SE15 | £7,294 | £480,000 | 495 |
| 4 | Bristol BS2 | £4,376 | £285,000 | 167 |
| 5 | Nottingham NG2 | £3,417 | £250,000 | 448 |
| 6 | Birmingham B1 | £3,222 | £225,000 | 100 |
| 7 | Glasgow G1 | £2,958 | £185,000 | 163 |
| 8 | Liverpool L2 | £2,792 | £130,188 | 33 |
| 9 | Leeds LS2 | £2,594 | £147,000 | 29 |
| 10 | Sheffield S2 | £2,143 | £150,000 | 194 |
What sellers and buyers are saying
The numbers above describe what the market did; these posts are what people in it say while they are doing it. Reddit search across r/HousingUK, r/UKPersonalFinance, r/PropertyInvestingUK and r/uklandlords for live discussion of selling city-centre flats. 141 threads monitored; the posts below were selected for being recent and on-theme. Quoted verbatim, lightly trimmed; each links to its public thread.
“Our flat has been on the market for 4 months with only 3 viewings... we are trying to decide whether we should reduce the asking price or rent it out.”
“Interest rates are high. Your service charge is high... You're going to have to take a real hit if you want to get rid of it, so rental might be the best idea.” - a reply
SE15: 76 days on market, 26% of stock stuck 90+ days, asking 6% under the sold median
“If you bought 2 years ago it's likely that your flat is worth less than you paid - I think there was another thread from someone in Manchester.”
M1: asking median sits 16% under the sold median, 128 days on market
“I think it's a slow market, I also think people will always choose houses over flats, so if it's in a similar price range to a house, even further out of the city, you might struggle.”
Why city-centre flat stock sits: flats compete with cheaper-per-foot houses
“I've been in discussion about buying the flat that I rent in Glasgow city centre, but I wondered if there is any advice about cladding / building fire safety requirements... it needs an EWS1 form for a mortgage.”
G1 and every flat-heavy core: cladding and EWS1 paperwork is a real friction on sales
Read these as colour, not evidence. These are individual posts on public property forums, quoted as social sentiment only. They are anecdote, not evidence of value, and not one of them fed any figure in this study. We include them because they put a human voice to what the transaction and listing data already shows.
What it means
If you are buying
- The slow, high-stuck centres are where offers below asking are most likely to land - a 90+ day listing has a motivated seller behind it.
- Compare on price per square metre, not headline price, to see which city centre actually gives you more home for the money.
If you are selling
- Price to the sold record, not the asking median - in 8 of 92 centres the asking median is already below what is completing, and the stuck pile is full of homes priced above the evidence.
- Expect roughly the days-on-market figure for your centre at a realistic price; well beyond it means the price, not the market, is the problem.
If you are an agent
- The stuck-stock share is your instruction-health gauge - the higher it is, the more of your board is a pricing conversation waiting to happen.
- The sold-evidence number is the lever to get a stalled listing moving without a guessing game.
Limitations
This is a sample of 92 active city-centre districts, not a census. Medians are robust but hide the spread within each district. The asking-vs-sold gap reflects the current listing mix and should never be read as a discount on value. Sold data lags completion and registration by weeks. Days on market and stuck counts are a snapshot on each district's refresh date, not a continuous series. The figures describe city-centre flats and do not generalise to a whole city or to houses.
Cite this / use the data
This is original analysis built from official records. You are free to republish the figures and chart in news and research with attribution and a link back to this page.
Suggested citation
Honestly. The UK City-Centre Property Index (2026-06-15). Retrieved from https://usehonestly.co.uk/blog/uk-city-centre-index/
Download the full dataset (CSV)
Journalists and analysts: for the methodology, an interview or a custom city-centre cut, get in touch via honestly on Telegram.
Frequently asked questions
Which UK city centre is slowest to sell a flat?
Of the 92 city-centre districts tracked, Birmingham B1 is slowest at 149 days on the market on average, while Sheffield S2 is fastest at 26 days.
Why do asking prices sit below sold prices in some city centres?
In 8 of 92 districts the median asking price is below the median sold price. That is a mix effect, not a discount: the stock on the market today is smaller and cheaper than the trailing two years of completed sales, so the two medians measure different homes. Asking prices are vendor expectation, not evidence of value.
What is the most expensive UK city centre per square metre?
London EC2 is the most expensive at £12,500 per square metre of recorded sales; Sheffield S2 is the most affordable at £2,143 per square metre.
Where does this data come from?
Sold prices and price per square metre are HM Land Registry and Registers of Scotland data, the official record of completed transactions in each country. Live asking prices, days on market and stuck-stock counts are current listings. The two are reported side by side and never blended into a single figure. The full per-district table is downloadable as CSV.
Official statistics and further reading
Every figure on this page traces to official data. These are the primary public datasets and statutory guidance behind UK house-price reporting - go here to verify the record and dig deeper.
- Office for National Statistics - UK House Price Index, statistical bulletin
- HM Land Registry - Price Paid Data (Open Government Licence v3.0)
- HM Land Registry - UK House Price Index, search and download tool
- Office for National Statistics - House price statistics for small areas
- Bank of England - Bank Rate and monetary policy
- GOV.UK - Stamp Duty Land Tax: rates and calculator
- National Trading Standards Estate & Letting Agency Team - Material Information in property listings (Parts A, B and C)
References
- Reddit. Public UK property forums (r/HousingUK), captured via social listening. https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/ (Captured 2026-06-11).