Photo: Derek Voller · CC BY-SA 2.0Measured against local pay, Appledore costs more to live in than 97% of UK towns
Homes in Appledore sold for a median £362,500. That is the middle of 140 standard sales from September 2023 to August 2026, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. Appledore grades D− for cost of living: prices, rent and council tax against what households in the area earn.
What Appledore’s housing numbers say
Prices have kept pace with the typical town
Over ten years the median sale in Appledore went up 38%; in the typical UK town it went up 42%. Since 1995–96 prices have gone up 6.8 times, from £44,475. Price trend ↓
A lot of new homes
35 of Appledore’s 140 sales were new builds, at a median of £469,995. By type ↓
Written from the data on this page: HM Land Registry sales since 1995, ONS private rents and household income, and council tax from MHCLG and the Welsh Government.
Appledore grades D− for cost of living
Each cost against what households in the Torridge council area earn (£42,703 a year, mean), ranked against UK towns.
Council tax pulls the grade down: against local incomes it costs more than in 97% of UK towns.
Down 20% in a year, up 38% in ten
The median of every standard sale in Appledore each year (September to August), against the typical UK town of 2,500+ (the middle of all their medians). Ten years: Appledore +38%, typical town +42%. Five years: +1.9% against +11%.
Show as a table
| Year to August | Appledore | Typical town | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 | £300,500 | £277,000 | 24 |
| 2024–25 | £377,497 | £280,000 | 56 |
| 2023–24 | £372,997 | £275,000 | 60 |
| 2022–23 | £369,995 | £280,000 | 85 |
| 2021–22 | £330,000 | £265,000 | 53 |
| 2020–21 | £295,000 | £250,000 | 59 |
| 2019–20 | £260,000 | £230,000 | 47 |
| 2018–19 | £268,750 | £225,000 | 46 |
| 2017–18 | £252,500 | £219,950 | 64 |
| 2016–17 | £239,950 | £210,000 | 68 |
| 2015–16 | £217,500 | £195,000 | 71 |
| 2014–15 | £210,000 | £183,500 | 49 |
| 2013–14 | £201,250 | £173,500 | 58 |
| 2012–13 | £165,000 | £165,000 | 29 |
| 2011–12 | £182,500 | £162,500 | 63 |
| 2010–11 | £215,000 | £163,250 | 61 |
| 2009–10 | £195,000 | £163,975 | 43 |
| 2008–09 | £153,750 | £155,000 | 34 |
| 2007–08 | £220,000 | £172,625 | 52 |
| 2006–07 | £190,200 | £169,000 | 61 |
| 2005–06 | £181,000 | £159,000 | 61 |
| 2004–05 | £169,000 | £154,000 | 51 |
| 2003–04 | £149,000 | £141,250 | 65 |
| 2002–03 | £135,250 | £122,000 | 58 |
| 2001–02 | £107,750 | £94,950 | 78 |
| 2000–01 | £71,250 | £80,000 | 71 |
| 1999–00 | £66,000 | £71,000 | 93 |
| 1998–99 | £51,500 | £63,500 | 67 |
| 1997–98 | £49,250 | £59,437 | 72 |
| 1996–97 | £48,450 | £55,747 | 62 |
| 1995–96 | £44,475 | £52,000 | 48 |
The median Appledore home sold for £218K in the year to August 2016, and £301K in the year to August 2026.
HM Land Registry Price Paid, standard (category A) sales of houses and flats inside the built-up area, by the year to August. These are actual sale prices, not an index: a year with more flats or new builds moves the median as well as prices do. The newest months are still being registered.
What homes sell for, by type
Medians of 140 standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026. The tick on each bar is the typical UK town of 2,500+.
Every type sells for more than in the typical UK town: detached houses by 21% and terraced houses by 38%.
Show as a table
| Type | Median | Sales | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | £469,995 | 43 | 31% |
| Semi-detached | £350,000 | 15 | 11% |
| Terraced | £310,000 | 74 | 53% |
| Flat or maisonette | £170,000 | 8 | 6% |
HM Land Registry Price Paid: category A sales (one home at full market value), so repossessions, company buy-to-lets and bulk sales are left out. In the last 12 months the median was £300,500 (24 sales).
About 67 sales a year
Standard sales in Appledore each year to August.
The last bar (24 sales) is still filling: Land Registry adds a sale when the transfer is registered, often two to three months after completion.
A typical Appledore home costs 8.5 years of area income
Most lenders cap a mortgage at about 4.5 times household income. The calculator starts from the area’s mean household income; switch to your own.
An estimate, not a mortgage offer: borrowing of up to 4.5× income, a 25-year repayment mortgage at the rate shown, and Band D council tax (your band may differ). Stamp duty uses England’s rates from 1 April 2025, with first-time buyers’ relief. Other debts, fees and survey costs aren’t included.
A two-bedroom rents for about £739 a month
The average private rent in the Torridge council area is £789 a month (August 2026): £670 less than England’s, £456 less than South West’s.
By size a month, the tick is England
ONS Price Index of Private Rents: the mean rent of all private tenancies, new and existing (not asking rents), for the whole Torridge council area. It’s the smallest area the ONS publishes.
Band D is £2,618 for 2026–27; Torridge council’s average is the 5th lowest of Devon’s 10
Appledore’s bill is the Torridge council’s share with the county or combined authority, police and fire shares, plus the parish or town council precept of about £113 a year. England’s average Band D is £2,392. Since 1993–94, Torridge’s average Band D has risen from £524: 396% in 33 years.
Average Band D 2026–27, by council
| Band value in 1991 | A year | A month |
|---|---|---|
| Band A up to £40,000 | £1,745 | £175 |
| Band B £40,001–52,000 | £2,036 | £204 |
| Band C £52,001–68,000 | £2,327 | £233 |
| Band D £68,001–88,000 | £2,618 | £262 |
| Band E £88,001–120,000 | £3,200 | £320 |
| Band F £120,001–160,000 | £3,782 | £378 |
| Band G £160,001–320,000 | £4,364 | £436 |
| Band H over £320,000 | £5,236 | £524 |
Your band comes from what your home would have sold for in April 1991, set by the Valuation Office Agency; look it up on GOV.UK. Each band pays a fixed fraction of Band D, from six ninths (A) to two (H). Living alone takes 25% off.
70% of households own their home; 20% rent privately
Census 2021, all households. More households own outright than across Devon’s towns (49% against 38%).
Devon and England: all residents of their built-up areas (towns and cities), from the same Census 2021 output areas.
1,049th of 1,213 UK towns its size for what a home costs against income
Median sale price ÷ the area’s mean household income, cheapest first, for UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people: the towns either side of Appledore, and others in Devon.
| # | Town | Median home | ÷ income | Rent | Band D | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lynemouth Northumberland | £74K | 1.6× | £695 | £2,576 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 107 | Dunkeswell Devon | £220K | 4.1× | £968 | £2,554 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 121 | Heathfield Devon | £220K | 4.2× | £961 | £2,647 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 212 | Princetown Devon | £239K | 4.8× | £846 | £2,634 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 214 | Starcross Devon | £250K | 4.8× | £961 | £2,604 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 1046 | Ticehurst East Sussex | £431K | 8.4× | £1,165 | £2,689 | D− |
| 1047 | Ripley Surrey | £610K | 8.5× | £1,736 | £2,622 | D |
| 1048 | Kimpton Hertfordshire | £568K | 8.5× | £1,434 | £2,502 | C− |
| 1049 | Appledore Devon | £363K | 8.5× | £789 | £2,618 | D− |
| 1050 | Tidbury Green West Midlands | £515K | 8.5× | £1,279 | £2,226 | C |
| 1051 | Ramsbury Wiltshire | £510K | 8.5× | £1,082 | £2,462 | C+ |
| 1052 | Henham Essex | £595K | 8.5× | £1,289 | £2,260 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 1213 | Caldy Merseyside | £1M | 22.3× | £859 | £2,501 | D− |
Rent and Band D are for each town’s main council area. Cost letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; this order is context only.
Bideford sells for £135K less than Appledore
Median sale, September 2023 to August 2026, for the built-up areas around Appledore, shaded against Appledore’s median. Five-year change where both years had 20+ sales.
| Town | Cost | Median | New | 5 yrs | Band D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appledore | D− | £363K | 25% | +1.9% | £2,618 |
| Northam | D− | £323K | 4% | +12% | £2,618 |
| Westward Ho! | D | £300K | 32% | +3.4% | £2,618 |
| Bideford | C− | £227K | 5% | +4.1% | £2,650 |
| Fremington | D | £330K | 13% | −6.1% | £2,597 |
| Chivenor and Wrafton | C− | £300K | 0% | +30% | £2,540 |
| Braunton | D | £375K | 0% | +12% | £2,649 |
| Bickington | D | £330K | 4% | +1.8% | £2,597 |
Bideford is the cheapest (£227,250). New builds were 32% of sales in Westward Ho!.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Sale prices aren’t valuations. A median is the middle sale, so a year with more flats or new builds moves it even if no home changed in value. The ONS House Price Index adjusts for the mix; it is published by council, not for Appledore’s built-up area.
- Rent is for the whole council. The ONS publishes private rents by council only, so the figure covers the whole Torridge council area, not just Appledore.
- Income is a mean. The grade divides costs by the ONS’s mean household income for the council area (£42,703), which a few high earners pull up; the median household’s is lower.
- The newest months are thin. Land Registry registers a sale weeks or months after completion, so the year to August 2026 will gain sales as registrations catch up.
Questions about living costs in Appledore
Is Appledore expensive to live in?
The median home in Appledore sold for £362,500 between September 2023 and August 2026, £85,500 more than the typical UK town. That is 8.5 times the area’s mean household income, cheaper for local incomes than in 7% of UK towns. The average private rent of £789 a month takes 22% of that income.
Are house prices falling in Appledore?
The median sale was £300,500 in the year to August 2026, down 20% on the year before, after peaking at £377,497 in the year to August 2025. Over five years prices held flat, and over ten went up 38%.
How much is rent in Appledore?
The ONS puts the average private rent in the Torridge council area at £789 a month in August 2026: £565 for one bedroom, £739 for two, £908 for three and £1,269 for four or more. Rents went up 2% over the year, against 4% across England.
How much is council tax in Appledore?
Band D is £2,618 for 2026–27, against England’s average of £2,392. Band A is £1,745 and Band C £2,327. Your bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
How much do I need to earn to buy in Appledore?
With a 10% deposit and borrowing of 4.5 times income, a household needs about £72,500 a year to buy the median Appledore home of £362,500.
Is Appledore cheaper than Barnstaple?
No: Barnstaple’s median sale was £252,625 over the same three years, against Appledore’s £362,500, and its average rent £846 a month against £789.
Sources: HM Land Registry Price Paid (standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026) · HM Land Registry Price Paid, every standard sale since 1995 (years to August), by council ward and postcode district · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026, by council) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents, monthly since January 2015 (councils, regions, England and Wales) · MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax, Band D 2026–27 (with parish precepts in England) · MHCLG Band D council tax by council, 1993–94 to 2026–27; Welsh Government council tax levels 2026–27 · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.