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Hampshire · Q2 2026

Southampton's pipeline narrows to small conversions while resale volumes stay deep

2,571 Land Registry transactions cleared at a £250,000 median to March 2026, prices off 2.2% with a Q2 pipeline of 27 units and £4.4m GDV.

Median sale price
£250,000
-2% YoY
Median price trend
£250k
Pending dev applications
114
183 units
Pipeline value (GDV)
£33.0m
89% approval rate (recent decisions)

Southampton recorded 2,571 Land Registry transactions in the twelve months to March 2026 at a £250,000 median, prices off 2.2% year on year. The Q2 planning register is thin: six pending applications carrying 27 units and £4.4 million of estimated GDV, weighted to small Class E conversions.

What's driving the Southampton market

Southampton is a working port city with two distinct economic engines that shape its development tape: the container terminal and cruise berths on the western shore, and the University of Southampton with its 22,000-strong student body anchoring the northern arc through Highfield and Portswood. That dual base gives the city a deeper resale market than its size alone would suggest, with 2,571 transactions in the twelve months to March 2026 clearing through a £250,000 median. The price distribution by type tells the affordability story plainly: flats at £158,499, terraces at £260,000, semis at £300,000 and detached houses at £385,000. That puts Southampton's flat median roughly 36% below the city-wide median, which is the gap that drives the PBSA and HMO investment case. The 2.2% year-on-year softening is consistent with what we are seeing across South Coast secondary cities this quarter, and it reflects buyer caution at the entry-level flat band rather than distress in family housing stock.

Market data at a glance

The Southampton numbers, visualised

Median sale price by property type

3,622 sales clearing across the type-mix

F
£160k
£160,000
T
£260k
£260,000
S
£300k
£300,000
D
£380k
£380,000

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

New build mix

+8% premium
16
3,606
New build · 0.4%Existing stock
Planning approval rate
89%approved
of 393 decided applications
Southampton quarterly median price & volume
Median sale priceTransactions

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

How Southampton compares
Market
Median
YoY
12m txns
Southampton
£250,000
-2%
3,622
South East average
£400,000
+1.1%
—
UK average
£285,000
+1.4%
—

Development pipeline

Live planning activity in Southampton

The Q2 planning register is unusually thin and conversion-led. Six pending applications carry 27 units and £4.4 million of estimated GDV between them, with nothing yet approved in the period. Three are Class E-to-residential changes of use sitting in the central postcodes: 72-74 Anglesea Road SO15 5QS (six flats, ref 26/00490/PA56) and 150-152 High Street SO14 2BT (seven flats including a studio, ref 26/00462/PA56) are both prior approval submissions tracking the national permitted development route, and 28-30 Chapel Road SO14 5GL (ref 26/00488/FUL) seeks a change of use from office to three short-let aparthotel units rather than C3 housing. A discharge of conditions application at 52-54 Waterloo Road SO15 3BE (ref 26/00487/DIS) carries seven flats from a 2024 consent and is the cleanest near-term completion candidate in the pipeline. A roof conversion at 5-7 Morris Road SO15 2BS (ref 26/00461/FUL) adds six flats from existing dwellings. The composition matters for finance structuring: five of the six schemes are sub-ten-unit, all are residential conversions or alterations rather than ground-up, and none carries the consented unit count or GDV scale that would attract syndicated senior debt. This is a small-ticket bridge-and-development market in Q2.
Top schemes by GDV in the pipeline

Notable pending applications

Pending26/00709/REM
47
units

Reserved matters application seeking approval for appearance and landscaping, following outline planning permission ref: 22/00988/OUT for erection of a 6-storey building comprising up to 47 flats with associated parking and cycle/refuse storage

Horseshoe Park Horseshoe Bridge Southampton
£7.5m
Filed Jul 2026
Pending25/01452/FUL
24
units

Implementation of planning permission 22/01042/FUL not in accordance with condition 11 (Green roof implementation) and 15 (Roof terrace Management) for erection of two additional floors, along with a five-storey rear extension to provide an additional 24 flats (comprising 24 x one bed flats) with associated elevational changes and provision of cycle and refuse storage facilities

Clarendon Apartments Canal Walk Southampton SO14 3BT
£3.8m
Filed Nov 2025
Pending26/00862/FUL
13
units

Erection of one additional 4th floor to facilitate conversion of building from office use (class E) to short term specialist housing for young adults to provide 13 x studio supported living units (class C2)

4 Bellevue Road Southampton
£3.3m
Filed Aug 2026
Pending26/00438/LBC
16
units

Application for Listed Building Consent for the restoration and adaptation of South Stoneham House to facilitate the creation of 16 flats and related University uses, insertion of lift to the porch and associated alterations to provide disabled access and partial removal and reinstatement of the boundary wall along Wessex Lane and Woodmill Lane. (submitted in associated with application 26/00361/FUL).

Connaught Hall of Residence And South Stoneham House Wessex Lane Southampton SO18 2NS
£2.6m
Filed Apr 2026
Pending24/00410/DIS
16
units

Application for approval of details reserved by, 3(Landscaping, lighting & means of enclosure detailed plan), 7(Ecological Mitigation Statement), 9(Archaeological investigation) and 21(Public Sewer protection) of permission 19/00348/FUL for erection of a 5 storey building to provide 16 flats (12 x 2 bedroom and 4 x 1 bedroom) with associated facilities.

Land to rear of 104 - 106 East Street Southampton SO14 3HH
£2.6m
Filed Apr 2024
Pending26/00446/FUL
5
units

Change of use of existing building (use class E) to 5x apart-hotel units (use class C1).

3 Kings Park Road Southampton SO15 2AT
£1.3m
Filed Apr 2026

Source: Southampton City Council portal. GDV estimates use local sales medians by property type.

Sales activity

Recent Southampton sold prices

Recent transactions set tight per-unit anchors for sponsors underwriting conversion exits. Freehold semis on Waterloo Road traded between £300,000 (89 Waterloo Road, SO15 3BS) and £310,000 (91 Waterloo Road, same postcode) on 26 March 2026, which is the directly relevant comparable set for the 52-54 Waterloo Road consented scheme one street along. A detached freehold at 3 Heath Road SO19 2QF cleared at £315,000 on 24 March, anchoring the eastern Southampton family house band. The leasehold flat tape is wide: a flat at 78 Portswood Road SO17 2FB (Flat 4, Lowmans House) sold at £127,500 while Flat 6 in the same building cleared at £210,000, showing how unit size and floor level swing per-flat exits inside a single conversion block. The lower entry points are stark, with Flat 105, 25 Latimer Street SO14 3EP clearing at £65,000 and Flat 10, Simco Court (81 Northlands Road, SO15 2DQ) at £64,000. Sponsors should not project these basement comparables forward for newly converted product, but they do illustrate the floor risk if quality or specification slips.

Latest registered sales

Land Registry · 28 September 2026
DateAddressTypeTenurePrice
29 July 2026
50, ABERDEEN ROADTL£315,000
29 July 2026
FLAT 33, HOME SPINNEY HOUSE, RIVER VIEW ROADFL£81,000
27 July 2026
32, HAWKHURST CLOSETF£257,000
24 July 2026
4, HANDEL ROADDF£570,000
24 July 2026
24, CAERLEON DRIVESF£335,000
24 July 2026
104, BRACKLESHAM CLOSETL£214,000
24 July 2026
42, BEAULIEU CLOSESF£325,000
23 July 2026
29, LEDBURY HOUSE, JOHN THORNYCROFT ROADFL£148,000

Southampton's Q2 pipeline is six applications and 27 units: small Class E conversions are the only show in town.

For developers

What this means for Southampton schemes

For Southampton schemes we are quoting senior development debt at 9-12% with 65-70% LTGDV typical for experienced sponsors on small conversion and PBSA-adjacent product, tightening toward 60% LTGDV where the sponsor track record is short or the exit comparables are thin. Bridging for auction purchases or pre-planning site control starts from 0.65% per month with 70-75% LTV achievable against existing values where a clear residential exit is in place. The most fundable archetypes in the current pipeline are sub-ten-unit Class E conversions in the central SO14 and SO15 postcodes with a £150,000 to £180,000 per-flat exit assumption, and small PBSA or co-living plays north of the city centre toward Portswood and Highfield. The aparthotel route on Chapel Road is harder to finance against C3 lender appetite and typically needs a serviced-apartment specialist or a commercial-investment structure. Mid-ticket sites of 20-50 units are conspicuously absent from this quarter's tape, which suggests landowners are holding through the price softening rather than bringing schemes forward, and sponsors should expect to source off-market rather than from the open consented pipeline.
Where we fund in Southampton

Outlook

The next 12 months in Southampton

We expect the second half of 2026 to remain dominated by small conversion product until the larger consented sites currently sitting outside the live register come back to the determination queue. The 2.2% year-on-year price softening is not severe but it removes the exit tailwind that some appraisals were leaning on in 2024, and ICR stress testing on refinance exits should be built around 9-10% senior rates and a £158,000 flat exit assumption rather than the £250,000 city-wide median. Sponsors with funded PBSA experience and university-corridor sites should find the deepest lender appetite. First-time developers will get a friendlier reception on five-to-ten-unit Class E conversions inside SO14, SO15 and SO19 than on anything requiring full planning determination from scratch.

Planning a Southampton scheme?

We arrange senior debt, mezzanine and equity for development schemes from £500k to £50m. No upfront fees, indicative terms in 48 hours.

Sources: HM Land Registry Price Paid Data (sold prices); Southampton City 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).