The average B&NES home sold for £406,169 in May 2026, up 0.9% in a year. Why city averages run near £560k, prices by type, and Bath's dearest streets.
What a Bath house is worth depends on which number you read, and in Bath the gap between the numbers is wider than almost anywhere. Asking prices in agents’ windows are hopes; the figure that matters is what buyers actually paid, which HM Land Registry records when each sale completes. This page reads those sold-price records plainly: the district average, what each property type goes for, who pays what, the dearest streets, and how Bath compares with the South West and with England.
The headline figure for 2026
The average home across Bath and North East Somerset sold for £406,169 in May 2026, up 0.9% on a year earlier, according to the official UK House Price Index, which is built from completed Land Registry sales rather than asking prices. That covers the whole council area: the city itself, Keynsham and Saltford, Midsomer Norton, Radstock and the Chew Valley villages.
The market has only just turned positive. The annual change was minus 1.0% in March and minus 0.7% in April before edging up to plus 0.9% in May, so prices have essentially been flat for a year and are now creeping rather than climbing.
The city of Bath itself trades well above that district figure. Rightmove’s sold-price page for Bath puts the average across the Bath listing area at £562,585 over the last year, about 4% down on the year before and 5% below its 2023 peak of £591,685. PropertySolvers, also working from Land Registry data, quotes around £459,125 on a different boundary. None of these contradict each other: the UKHPI figure covers the whole authority including the cheaper former coalfield towns, while the city-only averages are pulled up by Georgian Bath. Always check which area a figure covers before you compare.
What you pay by property type
The district average hides a big spread. The May 2026 breakdown from the UK House Price Index:
- Detached houses: £709,484. Scarce in the city itself, so this average leans on the villages and the district’s edges, and it still rose 1.0% over the year.
- Semi-detached houses: £442,669. The suburban standard in Oldfield Park’s wider hinterland, Keynsham and Midsomer Norton.
- Terraced houses: £385,395. What most of Bath is actually built of, from artisan terraces in Oldfield Park and Twerton to Georgian streets that sell for many times this figure.
- Flats and maisonettes: £238,934. The most affordable way in, and the one type still falling, down 2.2% over the year.
First-time buyers and home movers
The same dataset splits buyers in a useful way. A first-time buyer in Bath and North East Somerset paid an average of £330,912 in May 2026, while a home mover, someone selling one property to buy another, paid £490,113. The £159,000 gap between those figures is, in effect, the price of the step up from a first flat or terrace to a family house here.
The dearest streets
Based on sold-price records compiled by PropertySolvers, the most expensive addresses cluster on the slopes of Lansdown and around the Georgian set pieces:
- Sion Hill (Lansdown), averaging around £2.88 million.
- Queen Square (city centre), around £2.35 million.
- Charlcombe Lane (Lansdown), around £2.18 million.
- Hermitage Road (Lansdown), around £2.17 million.
- Beechwood Road (Combe Down), around £2.13 million.
At the other end, the cheapest recorded averages, around £139,000 to £160,000 at addresses such as Meadow Court off Brassmill Lane and Summerlays Court in Widcombe, are dominated by retirement and leasehold flats, which is a reminder to read any “cheapest street” list carefully: it is usually measuring small leaseholds, not family homes.
How Bath compares
Bath and North East Somerset is the expensive corner of its region: dearer than the South West as a whole by roughly £100,000, and getting on for £115,000 above the England average.
| Area | Average price | Annual change |
|---|---|---|
| Bath & North East Somerset | £406,169 | +0.9% |
| South West | £302,559 | +1.7% |
| England | £292,095 | +2.3% |
| Somerset (council area) | £280,768 | +3.0% |
All four figures are from the UK House Price Index for May 2026. The premium has a simple cause: the whole city centre is a World Heritage Site where very little new can be built, demand is propped up by two universities and a fast rail link to London, and supply of the Georgian stock everyone pictures is fixed forever. The council itself told its Local Plan consultation that the average house price in the district is around twelve times average workplace earnings, and nineteen times in the city of Bath. Where the next decade of new homes is actually planned to go is the subject of our Bath planning news page.
What it means for you
If you are selling, a market that has just crawled back to +0.9% is not one that forgives optimistic pricing: the city-area Rightmove data is still 5% below its 2023 peak, and buyers can see that too. If you are buying, the type gap is your lever: the £57,000 spread between the average terrace and the average semi, and the flats average still falling, give you more negotiating room at the lower rungs than the headline suggests. If you are staying put, your home is worth roughly what it was a year ago in cash terms, a soft landing after the 2021 to 2022 run.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average house price in Bath?
Across the Bath and North East Somerset council area, £406,169 in May 2026, according to the UK House Price Index built from completed Land Registry sales. Averages for the city of Bath alone run much higher, about £562,585 on Rightmove’s measure of the last year’s sales.
Are Bath house prices going up or down in 2026?
Barely moving. The district average was up 0.9% in the year to May 2026, after readings of minus 1.0% in March and minus 0.7% in April. City-area sold prices on Rightmove’s measure were about 4% down year on year.
How much is a terraced house in Bath?
The average terraced house across the district sold for £385,395 in May 2026. In the city’s Georgian streets, terraces sell for several times that: the sold-price averages on Queen Square run above £2 million.
How much do first-time buyers pay in Bath?
An average of £330,912 in May 2026, against £244,288 for a first-time buyer across England. That £86,000 premium is why flats at £238,934 carry so much of Bath’s first-rung market.
Where are the most expensive streets in Bath?
On sold-price records compiled by PropertySolvers, Sion Hill in Lansdown leads at around £2.88 million, followed by Queen Square, Charlcombe Lane, Hermitage Road and Beechwood Road in Combe Down, all averaging above £2.1 million.
Where can I check what a specific house sold for?
Every completed sale in England and Wales is public. Look up any street or address free on the HM Land Registry Price Paid service, or browse the same data on Rightmove and Zoopla.
Sources
- UK House Price Index, Bath and North East Somerset (ONS / HM Land Registry) for the district average, property-type, buyer-type and comparator figures (May 2026 data).
- Rightmove Bath sold prices for the city listing-area average and the 2023 peak comparison.
- PropertySolvers Bath house prices for the most and least expensive streets.
- HM Land Registry Price Paid search to check any individual address.
Figures are provisional and revised as more sales complete. Always confirm the latest numbers against the linked HM Land Registry and ONS sources before making a decision. Last updated August 2026.
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