Calculate price per square foot/metre to compare property value. See how it compares to UK averages.
Source: ONS — Housing statistics
By Konstantin Iakovlev · Founder, Calks.uk
Last updated: · Verified against UK lender and FCA 2026 guidance
Rates verified: 28 September 2026
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Disclaimer
This calculator is for guidance only. It is not financial or tax advice: check anything you rely on against the official source or a qualified adviser. Rates and figures come from lenders' published rates and FCA guidance and are reviewed for 2026. Everything is calculated in your browser; nothing you enter is sent to our servers.
How It Works
Price per square foot is a standard metric for comparing property values across different sizes and locations. The calculation is straightforward: divide the property price by its total internal floor area in square feet. A £300,000 property with 1,000 sq ft therefore has a price per square foot of £300. The measure strips out the thing that makes headline prices so hard to read, which is that no two homes contain the same amount of space.
UK averages vary enormously by location. Central London can exceed £1,500/sq ft, while parts of Northern England and Wales may be under £150/sq ft, with the national average sitting at roughly £260-£320/sqft. Prime Zone 1-2 London runs at £600-£1,400/sqft and the outer zones at £400-£700/sqft. Beyond the capital, expect around £350-£500 in Bristol, £400-£600 in Cambridge, £300-£450 in Edinburgh, £180-£320 in Manchester, £170-£280 in Cardiff, £170-£250 in Birmingham and £140-£240 in Liverpool. Mayfair and Kensington sit apart at £2,000+/sqft.
Enter the property price and floor area and you get the price per unit area, or work backwards from a target price per square foot to see what a given property ought to cost. The conversion between units happens on the way, since 1 sq m = 10.764 sq ft, which matters because UK homes have historically been measured in square feet while listings increasingly quote metres. Sold prices to benchmark against come free from the Land Registry, and Rightmove, Zoopla and Onthemarket publish them too.
Two homes at the same asking price can be very different purchases. A £400k property of 1,000 sqft works out at £400/sqft, while a 700 sqft flat at the same price is £571/sqft, and that premium buys location or amenity rather than space. An 800 sqft flat at £300,000 comes to £375/sqft, a figure that only means something once you set it against the neighbourhood average. In London, £700+/sqft is normal, £1,000+/sqft marks prime stock, and anything under £400/sqft in the outer zones counts as good value.
The same floor area carries wildly different price tags around the country. A 1,000 sqft home costs £700k-£1.4M in London Zone 1 and £400-£700k in Zones 5-6, against £180-£320k in central Manchester, £140-£240k in Liverpool, £130-£200k in Newcastle and £75-£140k in Sunderland. The usable space is identical in each case. What differs is what the location buys in jobs, amenities and transport, which is the whole of the price gap.
Size itself is worth checking before you judge any per-foot figure. The average UK new-build home in 2024 measured 76 m², or 818 sqft, the smallest in Europe, against 113 m² (1,216 sqft) in France and 109 m² (1,173 sqft) in Germany, because developers here maximise the number of homes per plot. London new builds are tighter still, with a two-bed flat averaging 60-70 m². Older stock is more generous, a 1930s three-bed semi running 80-100 m² and a Victorian terrace 90-130 m². Across modern new builds, allow 850-1,500 sqft for a three-bed semi and 1,200-2,500 sqft for a four-bed detached.
Example: £425,000 property, 120 sq m (1,292 sq ft)
- Floor area: 120 sq m = 1,292 sq ft
- Price per sq ft: £425,000 ÷ 1,292 = £329/sq ft
- Price per sq m: £425,000 ÷ 120 = £3,542/sq m
- Local average: £310/sq ft; property is 6% above average
- At average rate: property would be worth £400,520
Source: ONS — Housing statistics
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do you work out the price per square foot of a house?
- Divide the asking price by the total internal floor area in square feet, so a £300,000 home measuring 1,000 sq ft works out at £300 per square foot. If the particulars quote metres, convert first. The figure only earns its keep when you compare it with recent sales of similar homes on nearby streets, rather than against a national average that blends the whole country together.
- What counts as a good price per square foot?
- It depends entirely on where you are looking. The national average is roughly £260-£320/sqft, so a figure below that looks keen nationally yet would be extraordinary in London, where £700+/sqft is normal and £1,000+/sqft marks prime stock. Under £400/sqft in the outer London zones is genuinely good value, while in Liverpool, where the range is £140-£240/sqft, the same number would be steep. Benchmark against comparable streets, not headlines.
- Why are new-build homes in the UK so small?
- The average new-build completed in 2024 measured 76 m², or 818 sqft, the smallest in Europe. France averages 113 m², equal to 1,216 sqft, and Germany 109 m² or 1,173 sqft. The reason is commercial, because UK developers maximise the number of homes they can fit on a plot. London is tighter again, with two-bed flats averaging 60-70 m². Older housing gives more room per pound, with a 1930s semi at 80-100 m² and a Victorian terrace at 90-130 m².
- How do I convert square metres to square feet?
- Multiply the square metres by 10.764. A 120 sq m property is therefore 1,292 sq ft, and at £425,000 that works out at £329 per square foot, or £3,542 per square metre. UK particulars have historically used square feet while newer listings often quote metres, so converting before you compare keeps you from measuring one property against another on a different scale.