Average house prices in Liverpool are up 15.1% since the start of the year, making it the UK’s top property hotspot in 2020, according to Land Registry data analysed by Movewise, the multi-agent property seller. Movewise.co.uk analysed the latest Land Registry house price data, published this week, to identify the UK’s house price winners and losers of 2020, comparing average prices at the start of the year to October 2020, across more than 100 major UK towns and cities.

Property prices in Liverpool have risen by almost £20,000 in 2020 to October, from £130,224 to £149,938. Only two other major UK towns have seen double digit house price growth this year - Slough (11.8%) and Worcester (10.0%). The impact of lockdown and the desire for outside space, plus a growing trend towards working from home, has seen an exodus from London. This is reflected in strong house price growth in major towns more than an hour away from the capital, that offer a better quality of life as well as easy access to London when needed.

Cheltenham, Winchester and Bath fall into this category, and have all benefited from buyers re-evaluating what they want from a home. Average house prices in these areas have all increased more than 8% in 2020. In the UK’s biggest cities, house price growth has been more subdued, with property prices up 2.5% in London and Birmingham, and 3% in Manchester, in 2020 to October. This is just below average house price growth for the whole of the UK, with prices increasing from £251,711 to £262,175 or 4.2% over the same period.

Surprisingly, only four major towns - Hartlepool, Aberdeen, Luton and Basingstoke - have experienced negative price growth in 2020, with Hartlepool rooted at the bottom, as property prices fell 6.5% during the year to October. In Scotland, the biggest loser is Aberdeen where house prices are down almost £7,000 or 4.7% in 2020 to October. In comparison, prices are up 7.9% in Glasgow and 6.9% in Dundee. In Wales, the biggest winner is Newport where average house prices are up almost £15,000 or 8.1% in 2020 to October. House prices are up just 1.8% in Swansea.