Typical home sales reached £260,000 in Portsmouth.
Median sale price · year ending Mar 2026 · Portsmouth unitary authority
A major port and university city with pressures on housing, health and school support. Follow the local numbers through to the projects, decisions and proposed actions that could change them.
The population rose from 188,043 in 2001 to 211,475 in 2025.
Median home sale price in Portsmouth unitary authority · £
Period
Value
Mar 1996
47,000
Mar 1997
49,200
Mar 1998
54,000
Mar 1999
58,000
Mar 2000
64,000
Mar 2001
75,000
Mar 2002
84,995
Mar 2003
110,000
Mar 2004
124,000
Mar 2005
137,950
Mar 2006
138,500
Mar 2007
148,000
Mar 2008
158,000
Mar 2009
147,250
Mar 2010
148,000
Mar 2011
150,000
Mar 2012
149,995
Mar 2013
150,000
Mar 2014
155,000
Mar 2015
166,000
Mar 2016
177,000
Mar 2017
192,625
Mar 2018
207,000
Mar 2019
212,500
Mar 2020
212,500
Mar 2021
230,000
Mar 2022
240,000
Mar 2023
260,000
Mar 2024
251,000
Mar 2025
258,000
Mar 2026
260,000
Pressures—and what could help
Weakness · Portsmouth local authority
Too few homes are reaching completion
Portsmouth delivered 308 homes against a requirement of 2,702 in the three-year housing test.
The council’s newer monitoring table reports 316 net homes in 2025/26. Its annual figures differ from the government test and have not been reconciled here. An allocation or masterplan does not by itself create homes.
Homes delivered as a share of the requirement: 11% · HDT 2025 (2022/23–2024/25) · Portsmouth. Delivery fell well short of the government’s three-year requirement. Published measurement; homes include communal-accommodation equivalents, displayed rounded as in the official table. Consequence: Presumption.
Homes delivered over three years: 308 · HDT 2025 (2022/23–2024/25) · Portsmouth. The published delivery test counts 308 homes against a requirement of 2,702. Published measurement; homes include communal-accommodation equivalents, displayed rounded as in the official table. Consequence: Presumption.
Net homes added in council monitoring: 316 · 2025/26 · Portsmouth local authority. The latest council monitoring year is newer than the government’s three-year test. Council monitoring series, not the government Housing Delivery Test. Published annual components differ; no reconciliation is inferred.
Households in temporary accommodation: 608 · 31 March 2026 · Portsmouth. These households did not have settled housing at the end of March. Statutory homelessness administrative data. Quarterly assessment flows and point-in-time temporary accommodation are different measures. The denominator is the published household estimate, not population. National counts are rounded; suppressed cells are not zero.
Children in temporary accommodation: 612 · 31 March 2026 · Portsmouth. Children are affected as well as adults; this is a point-in-time count. Statutory homelessness administrative data. Quarterly assessment flows and point-in-time temporary accommodation are different measures. The denominator is the published household estimate, not population. National counts are rounded; suppressed cells are not zero.
2025;_Publication_Format; K155; Retained original SHA256 d4f6b7efe76658469df33f41b96a4e67c9ab182b872d0f155b94165d0e705bcb; Preserved live record homes.hdt.E06000044.hdt-2025--2022-23-2024-25-
2025;_Publication_Format; J155; Retained original SHA256 d4f6b7efe76658469df33f41b96a4e67c9ab182b872d0f155b94165d0e705bcb; Preserved live record homes.hdt-delivered.E06000044.hdt-2025--2022-23-2024-25-
Original PDF SHA256 1f1b29e19a086eeba1bf91bf21d1b1f72d147aa3aae6e67c8e041d8ccb26e02d; PDF text extraction: six dated rows, component sum checked against published total
TA1; C205; Retained original SHA256 f77eebd761455169626dc04c70f45177b11704999a6094384b59f37fa56d1881; Preserved live record homes.temporary-accommodation.E06000044.31-march-2026
TA1; G205; Retained original SHA256 f77eebd761455169626dc04c70f45177b11704999a6094384b59f37fa56d1881; Preserved live record homes.temporary-accommodation-children.E06000044.31-march-2026
Average private rent was £1,368 a month in August 2026; the 2025 middle sale price was 7.22 times residents’ full-time annual pay.
The pay comparison concerns individuals, not household mortgage eligibility. It differs from the 6.70 ratio for jobs based here. High costs and low incomes need separate responses.
Average monthly private rent: 1,368 · August 2026 · Portsmouth. Rent is an ongoing household cost, before bills. Average monthly private rent, all property types, ONS Price Index of Private Rents.
House price compared with residents’ annual pay: 7.2 · 2025 · Portsmouth. The middle sale price was 7.22 times the middle full-time resident salary. Median price paid for properties divided by median gross annual full-time employee earnings of residents. This is not a household mortgage multiple, workplace earnings ratio or ratio computed from the monthly house-price index.
House price compared with pay for jobs in the city: 6.7 · 2025 · Portsmouth. This measures jobs located here, including people who commute in. Published ONS median affordability ratio. Median house sale price divided by median gross annual full-time employee earnings of people working in the area. This differs from residence-based earnings and is not a household mortgage multiple. Use the annual published ratio, not a mix of differently dated house prices and earnings.
Children in low-income families after housing costs: 31% · FYE 2025 · Portsmouth. About three in ten children were below the relative low-income threshold. Children aged under 16 in relative low-income families; income below 60% of the contemporary median. DWP calibrates to HBAI. Disclosure control means ward totals may not equal city totals. FYE 2025 rates use mid-2024 population denominators; the tables use May 2024 ward boundaries. BHC and AHC are distinct measures. Historical values in this release have been revised.
Households in fuel poverty: 10.9% · 2024 · Portsmouth. These households meet the official low-income and poor-energy-efficiency definition. Low Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE) measure. Modelled official statistics in development; suitable for broad comparisons, not detailed year-to-year trends. Local figures are 2024 estimates, not national 2025 projections.
5c; AB217; Retained original SHA256 e4490e1534c3bd8a3c33966fd38713d212ea8c300c9b39deeb142b3e9af02bdd; Preserved live record homes.affordability-resident.E06000044.2025
5c; AG217; Retained original SHA256 585bc98112e801fc3dd45dbc5238d05c6507d4e48dc3ec3afab4867eded1c2f4; Preserved live record homes.affordability-workplace.E06000044.2025
2_AHC_Relative_LA; F225; Retained original SHA256 7827ea630763c04363451283f83536337f0270371aacf2b730a52757ccd04a09; Preserved live record poverty.child-ahc-rate.E06000044.fye-2025
Table 2; G245; Retained original SHA256 3716dbf207cddffa400491de37b85b912f25a701ff0cc55efd93c54152aae30a; Preserved live record poverty.fuel-rate.E06000044.2024
The combined register has 3,125 records; 3,107 are in licensed categories.
Rooms can help people find somewhere to live. Register size alone cannot tell us whether homes are safe or complaints are resolved. Repeated addresses also prevent treating every record as a different home.
Records on the combined shared-housing register: 3,125 · council combined HMO register, September 2026 · Portsmouth. The 3,125 records include 3,107 in licensed categories. Repeated addresses mean records are not unique homes. Records on the council's combined HMO register (3,107 in licensed categories). Portsmouth local authority.
Primary source: council-owned Portsmouth International Port, the project operator.
Local area connection
The council bid explicitly identifies Nelson ward and grid reference SU6450101817. That point also intersects Nelson in the May2026 ONS boundary service.
Site association. Neighbouring wards and people beyond the city may also benefit; this is not an estimate of ward-level impact.
Hilsea Lido has reopened. The wider Linear Park programme and coastal work must not be treated as the same completed project.
Portsmouth North · Portsmouth City Council
Latest evidence: The council’s current Hilsea Lines page says the restored lido is operated by the team behind Sea Lanes Brighton.
Next thing to check: Completion of the wider linear park beyond the Lido itself
Funding, expected benefit and evidence
Budget: The council’s winter 2025 magazine states £7.6m for the lido renovation. The retained capital reconstruction gives £7.75m for the wider Linear Park grant line; these are different scopes.
What success would mean: Lido reopening is evidenced; wider programme completion and participation benefits are not established by that fact.
A stated aim is not proof that the benefit has happened.
£7.6m is the council’s stated lido renovation cost. It has a different scope/date from the reconstructed £7.75m Linear Park grant line.
Local area connection
The council bid places the core Linear Park/lido concept in Hilsea and gives SU6545404330; the ONS2026 point query confirms Hilsea.
Verified for the lido/core site only. The wider Linear Park crosses the north of the island and may affect other wards; this is not complete route mapping.
Football facilities — Levelling Up attribution unconfirmed
The retained capital-programme reconstruction identifies a £1m football-facilities line. A project-specific official link to the Levelling Up award has not been verified.
City-wide · Portsmouth City Council
Latest evidence: Historic reconstruction retained for transparency; no new source has established the funding attribution or a named delivery outcome.
Next thing to check: Obtain a public project-specific funding and completion record.
Funding, expected benefit and evidence
Budget: £1m retained capital-programme line; allocation to the £20m Levelling Up award remains unconfirmed.
What success would mean: Do not count this as a confirmed Levelling Up outcome.
A stated aim is not proof that the benefit has happened.
