Somerset · Q2 2026

Bath holds its premium as transaction volumes flatten in Q2 2026

A heritage-constrained market where 1,218 sales over twelve months mask a quieter pipeline and a near-total absence of new build supply.

Median sale price: £420,000
Median price trend: £420k
Pending dev applications: 306
Pipeline value (GDV): £455.3m

Bath turned over 1,218 residential transactions in the twelve months to March 2026 at a median price of £427,750, with year-on-year values nudging up 0.4 percent. Behind the headline sits a more telling number: just two new build sales across the entire period, in a city where conservation rules shape almost every development decision.

What's driving the Bath market

Bath remains one of the most price-resilient secondary markets in the South West, and the latest Land Registry data underlines why. The median across 1,218 sales settled at £427,750, with detached stock running at a £700,000 median, semi-detached at £475,000, terraced at £420,000 and flats at £303,000. That terraced figure is the structurally important one: Georgian and Victorian terraces dominate the housing fabric inside the World Heritage boundary, and they are trading at near-detached prices in many comparable English cities. Year-on-year growth of 0.4 percent reads as flat, but in a market that has absorbed two rounds of stamp duty change and a sharp rate cycle, holding the line at this level is the story. The wider point for developers is that Bath does not have a volume problem. It has a stock problem. With conservation area designation, listed building density and UNESCO heritage status all pressing on what can physically be delivered, supply remains structurally tight and that is what keeps the pricing floor where it is.

Market data at a glance

The Bath numbers, visualised

Median sale price by property type

1,778 sales clearing across the type-mix

£300k

£300,000

£415k

£415,000

£475k

£475,000

£705k

£705,000

Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid, rolling 12 months.

New build mix

+78.6% premium

1,764

New build · 0.8%Existing stock

Planning approval rate

93%approved

of 1,074 decided applications

Bath quarterly median price & volume

Median sale priceTransactions

Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid Data. Median computed across all registered transactions per period.

How Bath compares

Market

Median

YoY

12m txns

Bath

£420,000

-1.4%

1,778

South West average

£320,000

+1.6%

—

UK average

£285,000

+1.4%

—

Development pipeline

Live planning activity in Bath

Idox planning data for Bath & North East Somerset is not currently captured in our weekly pull, so we cannot publish a verified live pipeline for the city itself. The wider Somerset picture from neighbouring authorities is instructive. Across the legacy Mendip district portal that covers Wells, Frome and Glastonbury, we are tracking 36 relevant residential applications totalling 999 pending units and an aggregate estimated GDV of around £317 million as at 20 May 2026. None of those applications have yet received decisions in our current dataset, which means the regional approvals pipeline is loaded but still moving slowly through committee. The character of that pipeline is also worth noting: a single 180-unit Stratton on the Fosse scheme and a 90-unit Common Moor Drove reserved matters application in Glastonbury account for the bulk of the unit count, with the remainder dominated by single-dwelling rural conversions, small barn-to-residential changes of use and self-build plots. The shape of the Mendip pipeline mirrors what we see in B&NES anecdotally: very few large strategic sites, a long tail of small heritage-led conversions, and a planning system that rewards developers who understand how to engage with conservation officers from day one.

Top schemes by GDV in the pipeline

Notable pending applications

Pending26/01238/EOUT

200

units

(i) Outline application for phases 3 and 4 for up to 200 dwellings; landscaping; community hall; drainage; allotments; open space; footpaths and emergency access; all matters reserved, except access from Combe Hay Lane via the approved phase 1 spine road (details of internal roads and footpaths reserved); (ii) Detailed application for the continuation of the spine road (from phase 1), to and through Sulis Manor and associated works comprising: the demolition of existing dilapidated buildings and tree removal; drainage; landscaping; lighting; and boundary treatment; to enable construction of the spine road.

Pending25/04918/OUT

170

units

Outline planning application for the erection of up to 170 dwellings (including affordable housing) (use class C3), an Early Years facility (use class E(f)), associated parking, access roads, walking and cycling routes, public open space, drainage and other associated works. All matters are reserved, except for access (part).

Pending25/03044/OUT

130

units

Outline planning application for the erection of up to 130 dwellings (including affordable housing), with public open space, landscaping, sustainable drainage system (SuDS), a vehicular access point and the demolition of a farm building. All matters reserved except for access.

Pending26/01621/OUT

113

units

Outline planning application for up to 113 homes; new vehicular and pedestrian accesses onto Chilcompton Road, public open space; tree planting and habitat creation; site drainage and associated infrastructure with all matters reserved except for access

Pending26/01208/OUT

105

units

Outline planning application for up to 105 homes (Use Class C3), new vehicular and pedestrian access onto Manor Road, public open space, tree planting and habitat creation, site drainage and associated infrastructure, with all matters reserved except for access.

Pending26/03453/OUT

units

Outline planning application for up to 55 dwellings and associated infrastructure including access improvements, with all matters reserved except for access

Source: Bath & North East Somerset Council portal. GDV estimates use local sales medians by property type.

Sales activity

Recent Bath sold prices

Recent transactions show the spread that defines Bath as a development market. At the upper end, 3 Paddock Woods (BA2 7AD) sold detached freehold for £885,000 in mid-March 2026 and 15 Richmond Place (BA1 5PZ), a terrace in the Lansdown conservation area, achieved £820,000. In the family-home bracket, 48 Ringwood Road (BA2 3JL) traded at £510,000 and 4 Charlcombe Rise (BA1 6LA) at £650,000. The Georgian and Victorian flat market is equally active and price-stratified: Apartment 3 at Brompton House, St Johns Road (BA2 6PT) sold for £415,000, while Flat 1 at 17 Daniel Street (BA2 6NB), a leasehold conversion in a Bath stone townhouse, achieved £347,500. Entry-level terraced stock in BA2 1 and BA2 3 still trades in the £249,500 to £400,000 range, which is where small developers competing on refurbishment margin tend to operate.

Latest registered sales

Land Registry · 28 September 2026

Date	Address	Type	Tenure	Price
30 July 2026	FLAT 17, CAXTON COURT, GROVE STREET	F	L	£286,000
30 July 2026	24, ALPINE GARDENS	T	L	£420,000
28 July 2026	96, CATHERINE WAY	T	F	£380,000
24 July 2026	64, SHERIDAN ROAD	S	F	£255,000
24 July 2026	6, HERBERT GARDENS	T	F	£320,000
23 July 2026	60, POPLAR CLOSE	T	F	£350,000
23 July 2026	27, LONGFELLOW AVENUE	T	F	£795,000
23 July 2026	101, ELMHURST ESTATE	T	F	£300,000

Bath does not have a volume problem; it has a stock problem, and that is what keeps the pricing floor where it is.

For developers

What this means for Bath schemes

The Bath market does not reward the volume housebuilder model. It rewards three distinct strategies. First, heritage refurbishment of Georgian and Victorian terraces, where listed building consent and conservation-area planning are the binding constraints and where finished GDVs in BA1 and BA2 7 postcodes routinely exceed £800 per square foot. Second, small-site conversions of period townhouses into compliant apartment schemes, where the median flat price of £303,000 sets a floor but where well-specified one and two-bed units in central BA1 and BA2 6 are clearing £400,000 to £450,000. Third, change of use opportunities on office and commercial stock in the city centre fringe, where permitted development still applies but where Bath's tight design code adds material cost. We are typically quoting senior development finance at 9 to 12 percent on facilities supporting 65 to 70 percent LTGDV for these structures, with bridging from 0.65 percent per month where acquisition speed matters on listed-building lots.

Bath development finance

Term sheets for ground-up schemes — 65-70% LTGDV typical for Bath.

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Bath bridging finance

Auction, refurb and pre-planning bridge for Bath sites.

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Bath market hub

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Where we fund in Bath

Outlook

The next 12 months in Bath

We expect Bath transaction volumes to stay in the 1,150 to 1,250 range for the rest of 2026, with the median holding above £425,000 unless rates move sharply. The constrained supply picture, only two new builds in twelve months, means the pricing floor is unlikely to soften materially. The Q3 question is whether B&NES planning approvals accelerate to match the pipeline now building across neighbouring Mendip, where 999 units sit waiting for decisions. For developers active in the city, the strategic priority is securing pre-application engagement on heritage-led schemes now, ahead of a likely Q4 push on conservation-area refurbishment as rates settle.

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Sources: HM Land Registry Price Paid Data (sold prices); Bath & North East Somerset Council planning portal (planning applications); ONS House Price Index (regional benchmarks). Report generated 20 May 2026 by Construction Capital's market intelligence team.

Methodology: Pending GDV is estimated by multiplying declared unit counts by local sales medians for the corresponding property type. Approval rate is the share of decided applications (last 12 months) granted permission. Sold-price changes are year-on-year comparisons of the median sale price. Pipeline activity refers to residential development applications only — household extensions, conditions variations, and other non-development applications are excluded. Construction Capital is a trading name of Lenzie Consulting Ltd. (08174104).