The cheapest street to buy a home

Find out if you live on the most affordable street in England and Wales...

Britain’s cheapest house is on the market and could be yours for just £15,000.

But despite its paltry asking price, this cut-price crib is not located on England’s cheapest road for property value. That honour goes to a similar looking street a five minute drive away...

The cheapest street

Burnley’s Angle Street was this month crowned the cheapest street to buy a home on in England and Wales by Mouseprice.com's annual affordable street survey, with an average property value of just £32,400. But it’s nearby Pritchard Street that plays home to Britain’s cheapest house – a two bedroom terrace property that’s in need of comprehensive repair due to vandalism.

There were two sales on Angle Street in 2010 – one for £26,500 and the other for £31,000 but it’s actually the first year that the street has appeared in Mouseprice.com’s poll.

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The street is located in the north of the Lancashire town near to a general hospital and the Leeds-Liverpool canal, but is still within walking distance of the centre. Transport-wise a house on Angle Street would place you fairly close to the M65 – with access to Preston and Blackburn as well as Manchester and Liverpool along the M61 and M6.

Much like last year’s cheapest street, Fernhill in Mountain Ash, Wales, Burnley used to be a centre for coal mining as well as cotton and wool manufacturing. But these traditional industries have been in decline for decades, with the last deep coal mine closing back in 1981. The closure of the Prestige Car Parts and Michelin factories around the turn of millennium added to Burnley’s pain as employment growth took a substantial dive.

Burnley also has high levels of crime, specifically burglary. According to upmystreet.com, burglary rates stood at 24.6 per 1000 people in 2009; compared to the English average of just 11. Looking specifically at Angle Street on the government’s crime map shows that there has been two cases of burglary, five of anti-social behaviour and two of violent crime in the last month.

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So while prices for the area may look attractive, there are reasons to think twice about snapping up a home on Angle Street.

Top 20

As well as taking the top spot in Mouseprice.com’s report, Burnley actually accounts for 12 of the top 20 most affordable streets in England and Wales – making it the capital for cheap housing across the two countries.

Last year’s cheapest street, Fernhill, has been pushed back into second place with an average value of £32,700.

Here’s a rundown of the top 10 streets with the lowest average property value. And if you fancy taking a wander around any of these areas, just click on the name and you’ll be directed the Google Street View page for the street.

Rank	Street	Locality	Postcode	Average value	Region
1	Angle Street	Burnley	BB10	£32,400	North West
2	Fernhill	Mountain Ash	CF45	£32,700	Wales
3	Elmwood Street	Burnley	BB11	£38,300	North West
4	Spencer Street	Burnley	BB10	£38,400	North West
5	Colville Street	Burnley	BB10	£39,300	North West
6	Haig Street	Ferryhill	DL17	£39,600	North East
7	Shakespeare Street	Bootle	L20	£39,800	North West
8	Hurtley Street	Burnley	BB10	£39,900	North West
9	Brynawelon	Ebbw Vale	NP23	£40,100	Wales
10	Norman Street	Burnley	BB10	£40,100	North West

Source: Mouseprice.com

As you can see, Burnley’s BB10 postcode dominates the top of the poll. According to the Mouseprice.com this area is mostly made up of terraced housing, with almost 50% of the area’s population living in this type of property. The median age for the postcode is 39 and just under 14% of the population is educated to degree level.

Nationwide

The most notable difference between this year’s poll and 2010’s is that the North-East and North-West regions have switched places at the top of the affordable street list. Last year, five of the top seven cheapest streets were found in the TS9 Middlesbrough postcode, while this year only two TS postcodes appear in the whole top 20.

As the table below shows, on average, property prices in the North West have increased at a lower rate than those in the North East – pushing the region into the top spot on the nationwide cheapest housing list.

Rank	Region	Average of top 10 cheapest streets	Averages in 2010 and rank
1	North West	£39,100	£36,430 (2)
2	North East	£41,620	£36,050 (1)
3	Wales	£43,830	£39,980 (3)
4	Yorkshire & the Humber	£46,270	£40,770 (4)
5	South East	£49,080	£45,320 (5)
6	East Midlands	£50,080	£48,080 (7)
7	West Midlands	£50,220	£46,390 (6)
8	East	£57,900	£54,700 (8)
9	South West	£71,830	£67,020 (9)
10	Greater London	£106,110	£101,140 (10)

Source: Mouseprice.com

In fact, property prices for the 10 cheapest streets in each area have increased in the North East faster than any other region; jumping by £5,570 between the 2010 and 2011 polls. This is slightly ahead of Yorkshire and the Humber where the average has risen by £5,500 and Greater London where the figure is up £4,970 on 2010.

Reinforcing the divide

The North-South divide is rarely more apparent than in property prices – and the figures in this report are no exception. Even though Yorkshire and the North East have seen some of the largest property value increases nationwide, house prices are still far behind those in the South of England and in a different league to those in Greater London. And looking at the coalition government figures for council spending cuts – it’s not about to get any better for the North.

Out of the six councils receiving the maximum cut in spending power of 8.9%, three are in the North West and one is in the North East. And predictably enough, all six of the councils receiving the smallest cuts are found in the South of England (Dorset is actually receiving an increase in spending!).

It seems – as I wrote last year – that it’s about to get a lot grimmer up North.

What do you think?

Is the North-South divide still a problem for England? Why do you think house prices are so much lower in Northern England?

Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below.

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