Hinckley Times

New homes third more expensive

- PATRICK SCOTT hinckleyti­mes@trinitymir­ror.com

NEW-BUILD houses in Leicesters­hire are a third more expensive than existing properties.

Figures released by the Land Registry have revealed the average property prices for both new and previously owned homes in each part of the UK.

In April 2016 the average new-build property in Leicesters­hire cost £251,126 compared to £188,737 for the average existing property.

This makes new houses in the area 33% more expensive, the fifth highest for any county in England.

Within Leicesters­hire the price of new-builds outweighs that of existing homes by the greatest margin in Charnwood where new houses cost 48% more on average than previously owned ones.

Harborough has the smallest discrepanc­y in the area with new-builds being 12.6% more expensive.

Hinckley and Bosworth is fourth highest with a discrepanc­y of 36.1%.

The average price of a new-build property across the whole of the United Kingdom was £254,604 in April 2016, an increase of 10.2% compared with April 2015.

For existing properties the average price was £205,914, up by 8% over the same period.

Harlow in Essex had the most expensive newly built homes with newbuilds being 95% more expensive than existing properties on average in April.

Newly constructe­d homes were actually cheaper than previously owned housing in 56 out of 379 local authority areas in Britain. Surrey Heath was the most extreme example of this with newbuilds 31% cheaper than existing stock.

LOCAL AUTHORITY FIGURES FOR APRIL 2016 Average New-Build Price (% higher/lower than existing homes) Charnwood (47.6%) Blaby £251,942 (38.6%) Leicester £193,461 (36.3%) Hinckley and Bosworth £236,276 (36.1%) North West Leicesters­hire £228,659 (34.0%) Melton £256,934 (28.1%) Oadby and Wigston £232,565 (24.1%) Harborough £269,417 (12.6%) £276,319

Leicesters­hire £251,126 (33.1%)

overall

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