The 19 areas that have seen property prices rise more than 250 per cent since the turn of the century

Study finds

Southend-on-Sea is the unheralded winner of the UK’s top property hotspot in the 21st Century (excluding London Boroughs) according to research carried out by online estate agents HouseSimple.com.

Average property prices have boomed 287.1 per cent in the Essex coastal town since the turn of the century. Home to the longest leisure pier in the world, Southend-on-Sea property prices have risen faster than in any town or city outside the Capital, since January 2000, according to Land Registry figures.

And Southend-on-Sea is not the only town in the East of England that has seen phenomenal price rises. Four-out-of-five of the biggest price growth areas outside London since January 2000, have been in the East. Cambridge (279.2 per cent), Luton (276.7 per cent) and Basildon (274.7 per cent) have all seen average property prices increase by more than 270 per cent.

If you include London boroughs in the research, Waltham Forest in East London, is the top performing area in the UK for property price growth, with average house prices rising 364.9 per cent since January 2000. However, HouseSimple wanted to look at how house prices had fared across the rest of the country, as London is often viewed as a stand-alone property market, not reflective of the UK as a whole.

HouseSimple.com identified 19 UK towns and cities that have seen average price growth of at least 250 per cent since January 2000. Only two of those towns – Salford and Sale – are in the north of England, and both are in Greater Manchester.

The following table shows the 19 towns and cities (excluding London) where average house prices have increased by at least 250 per cent since January 2000:

Town/City	Region	Avg house prices (£) Jan 2000	Avg house prices (£) Current	% price increase
Southend-on-Sea	East	£71,879	£280,948	290.9
Bristol	South West	£71,973	£273,393	279.9
Cambridge	East	£118,216	£448,243	279.2
Luton	East	£63,634	£239,735	276.7
Basildon	East	£81,462	£305,217	274.7
Corby	East Midlands	£47,183	£174,675	270.2
Salford	North West	£42,271	£156,190	269.5
Hastings	South East	£54,418	£200,767	268.9
Leicester	East Midlands	£45,432	£167,518	268.7
Sale	North West	£76,351	£279,776	266.4
Brighton	South East	£97,612	£356,510	265.2
Lincoln	East Midlands	£42,281	£153,389	262.8
Exeter	South West	£72,116	£258,784	258.8
Milton Keynes	South East	£73,465	£262,188	256.9
Chelmsford	East	£95,857	£340,930	255.7
Norwich	East	£56,627	£201,161	255.2
Canterbury	South East	£83,493	£296,392	255.0
Slough	South East	£86,457	£306,759	254.8
Coventry	West Midlands	£52,539	£185,360	252.8