Photo: David Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0A year’s average rent takes 29% of local income in Exeter, more than in 95% of UK towns
A typical home in Exeter sold for £295,000. That is the middle of 4,331 standard sales from September 2023 to August 2026, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. Exeter grades C− for cost of living: prices, rent and council tax against what households in the area earn, #36 of 47 in Devon.
What Exeter’s housing numbers say
Renting is where Exeter is dear
The ONS puts the average private rent in the Exeter council area at £1,318 a month. Set against what households here earn (£53,835 a year, mean), a year’s rent is 29% of income. Buying compares better: the median home is 5.5× income, cheaper for local incomes than in 50% of UK towns. Renting ↓
Prices have stood still since 2024
The median sale reached £310,000 in the year to August 2023 and was £295,000 in the year to August 2026. Over ten years the median sale in Exeter went up 32%; in the typical UK town it went up 42%. Since 1995–96 prices have gone up 5.6 times, from £52,350. Price trend ↓
A wide spread inside one city
The median sale in Duryard and St James ward was £400,000; in Exwick it was £240,000. Much of that is the mix of homes: 63% of sales in St David's were flats. Where in Exeter ↓
Rents have risen more slowly than across England
The average rent in the Exeter council area went up 0.5% in the year to August 2026, against 4% across England. Over five years it rose 28% (England 35%). Renting ↓
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.
Exeter grades C− for cost of living
Each cost against what households in the Exeter council area earn (£53,835 a year, mean), ranked against UK towns.
Rent pulls the grade down: against local incomes it costs more than in 95% of UK towns. Exeter is #36 of 47 Devon towns for cost of living.
Flat for three years, and up 32% in ten
The median of every standard sale in Exeter each year (September to August), against the typical UK town of 2,500+ (the middle of all their medians). Ten years: Exeter +32%, typical town +42%. Five years: +6.7% against +11%.
Show as a table
| Year to August | Exeter | Typical town | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 | £295,000 | £277,000 | 1,161 |
| 2024–25 | £295,000 | £280,000 | 1,684 |
| 2023–24 | £295,000 | £275,000 | 1,486 |
| 2022–23 | £310,000 | £280,000 | 1,658 |
| 2021–22 | £290,000 | £265,000 | 1,892 |
| 2020–21 | £276,500 | £250,000 | 2,203 |
| 2019–20 | £250,000 | £230,000 | 1,470 |
| 2018–19 | £240,000 | £225,000 | 1,740 |
| 2017–18 | £247,000 | £219,950 | 1,883 |
| 2016–17 | £235,000 | £210,000 | 2,058 |
| 2015–16 | £223,000 | £195,000 | 2,306 |
| 2014–15 | £213,000 | £183,500 | 2,291 |
| 2013–14 | £194,000 | £173,500 | 2,066 |
| 2012–13 | £185,000 | £165,000 | 1,670 |
| 2011–12 | £178,500 | £162,500 | 1,731 |
| 2010–11 | £184,000 | £163,250 | 1,673 |
| 2009–10 | £175,000 | £163,975 | 1,735 |
| 2008–09 | £170,000 | £155,000 | 1,221 |
| 2007–08 | £181,000 | £172,625 | 1,775 |
| 2006–07 | £179,000 | £169,000 | 2,862 |
| 2005–06 | £166,000 | £159,000 | 2,852 |
| 2004–05 | £161,000 | £154,000 | 2,044 |
| 2003–04 | £152,000 | £141,250 | 2,785 |
| 2002–03 | £129,950 | £122,000 | 2,599 |
| 2001–02 | £100,000 | £94,950 | 2,841 |
| 2000–01 | £79,950 | £80,000 | 2,809 |
| 1999–00 | £70,000 | £71,000 | 2,734 |
| 1998–99 | £59,950 | £63,500 | 2,706 |
| 1997–98 | £56,950 | £59,437 | 2,365 |
| 1996–97 | £53,997 | £55,747 | 2,258 |
| 1995–96 | £52,350 | £52,000 | 1,643 |
The median Exeter home sold for £223K in the year to August 2016, and £295K 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 4,331 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 16%, semis by 22%, terraced houses by 24% and flats by 14%. The overall median is only £18,000 higher because Exeter sells more terraces and flats (59% of sales) than most towns.
Show as a table
| Type | Median | Sales | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | £450,000 | 760 | 18% |
| Semi-detached | £325,000 | 1,020 | 24% |
| Terraced | £277,500 | 1,714 | 40% |
| Flat or maisonette | £180,000 | 837 | 19% |
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 £295,000 (1,161 sales).
Cheapest in Exwick and St David's; dearest in Duryard and St James
Median sale by council ward (the part of each ward inside Exeter’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Terraced medians compare like with like.
| Ward | Median | Terraced | Flats | Sales | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exwick | £240,000 | £228,750 | 11% | 326 | |
| St David's | £240,000 | £296,500 | 63% | 382 | |
| St Thomas | £265,000 | £265,000 | 19% | 397 | |
| Mincinglake and Whipton | £267,250 | £250,000 | 13% | 186 | |
| Priory | £270,000 | £248,000 | 15% | 264 | |
| Heavitree | £300,000 | £297,000 | 20% | 394 | |
| St Loyes | £303,000 | £275,000 | 16% | 359 | |
| Pennsylvania | £310,000 | £283,750 | 10% | 290 | |
| Alphington | £315,000 | £275,000 | 7% | 385 | |
| Newtown and St Leonard's | £318,000 | £345,000 | 32% | 357 | |
| Pinhoe | £325,000 | £290,000 | 10% | 565 | |
| Topsham | £347,500 | £310,000 | 6% | 225 | |
| Duryard and St James | £400,000 | £317,250 | 19% | 201 |
The whole-ward median mostly follows the mix of homes. 63% of sales in St David's were flats, so its median is £240,000, but a terraced house there sells for £296,500, more than in Exwick and St Thomas. Detached houses are 39% of sales in Duryard and St James, the dearest ward.
By postcode district (median, sales): EX1 £310K (884) · EX2 £305K (1,786) · EX4 £275K (1,661). Wards are the 2022 council wards; wards with fewer than 30 sales are left out. Topsham here is Exeter’s ward of that name; the town is under Neighbours.
About 1,600 sales a year, down from 2,900 before 2008
Standard sales in Exeter each year to August. Since the 2008 crash the market here has run at about 60% of its mid-2000s pace. Sales jumped in 2020–21, when stamp duty was cut.
The last bar (1,161 sales) is still filling: Land Registry adds a sale when the transfer is registered, often two to three months after completion.
A typical Exeter home costs 5.5 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 £1,131 a month
The average private rent in the Exeter council area is £1,318 a month (August 2026): £141 less than England’s, £73 more 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 Exeter council area. It’s the smallest area the ONS publishes.
Band D is £2,495 for 2026–27; Exeter council’s average is the 3rd lowest of Devon’s 10
Exeter’s bill is the Exeter council’s share with the county or combined authority, police and fire shares, in an area with no parish precept. England’s average Band D is £2,392. Since 1993–94, Exeter’s average Band D has risen from £543: 359% in 33 years.
Average Band D 2026–27, by council
| Band value in 1991 | A year | A month |
|---|---|---|
| Band A up to £40,000 | £1,664 | £166 |
| Band B £40,001–52,000 | £1,941 | £194 |
| Band C £52,001–68,000 | £2,218 | £222 |
| Band D £68,001–88,000 | £2,495 | £250 |
| Band E £88,001–120,000 | £3,050 | £305 |
| Band F £120,001–160,000 | £3,604 | £360 |
| Band G £160,001–320,000 | £4,159 | £416 |
| Band H over £320,000 | £4,991 | £499 |
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.
57% of households own their home; 25% rent privately
Census 2021, all households. Fewer households own outright than across Devon’s towns (30% against 38%).
Devon and England: all residents of their built-up areas (towns and cities), from the same Census 2021 output areas.
34th of 56 UK towns and cities its size for what a home costs against income
Median sale price ÷ the area’s mean household income, cheapest first, for UK towns and cities of 88,000 to 170,000 people: the towns and cities either side of Exeter, and others in Devon.
| # | Town | Median home | ÷ income | Rent | Band D | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Preston Lancashire | £140K | 3× | £790 | £2,566 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 31 | West Bromwich West Midlands | £230K | 5.4× | £953 | £2,245 | D |
| 32 | Bedford Bedfordshire | £325K | 5.4× | £1,173 | £2,438 | B |
| 33 | York North Yorkshire | £290K | 5.4× | £1,199 | £2,276 | C |
| 34 | Exeter Devon | £295K | 5.5× | £1,318 | £2,495 | C− |
| 35 | Basildon Essex | £325K | 5.5× | £1,424 | £2,316 | C+ |
| 36 | Maidstone Kent | £335K | 5.5× | £1,297 | £2,469 | C+ |
| 37 | Solihull West Midlands | £338K | 5.6× | £1,278 | £2,174 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 56 | Kensington and Chelsea London | £1.2M | 15.1× | £3,690 | £1,667 | C− |
Rent and Band D are for each town’s main council area; Scotland’s rents are published for broad areas, not councils. Cost letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; this order is context only.
Topsham sells for £235K more; Cranbrook for £20K less
Median sale, September 2023 to August 2026, for the built-up areas around Exeter, shaded against Exeter’s median. Five-year change where both years had 20+ sales.
| Town | Cost | Median | New | 5 yrs | Band D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exeter | C− | £295K | 6% | +6.7% | £2,495 |
| West Clyst | C− | £384K | 58% | +13% | £2,629 |
| Clyst Honiton | B− | £295K | 28% | −0.9% | £2,629 |
| Clyst St Mary | C− | £445K | 0% | — | £2,595 |
| Exminster | C− | £345K | 0% | +8.8% | £2,604 |
| Topsham | D− | £530K | 29% | −2.2% | £2,495 |
| Broadclyst | B− | £277K | 0% | — | £2,629 |
| Cranbrook | B− | £275K | 37% | +9.5% | £2,731 |
Topsham, 3.2 miles away, has the dearest homes nearby (£530,000). Cranbrook is the cheapest (£275,000). New builds were 58% of sales in West Clyst and 37% of sales in Cranbrook. Places in other councils pay £100 to £235 more a year at Band D.
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 Exeter’s built-up area.
- Rent is for the whole council. The ONS publishes private rents by council only, so the figure covers the whole Exeter council area, not just Exeter.
- Income is a mean. The grade divides costs by the ONS’s mean household income for the council area (£53,835), 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 Exeter
Is Exeter expensive to live in?
The median home in Exeter sold for £295,000 between September 2023 and August 2026, £18,000 more than the typical UK town. That is 5.5 times the area’s mean household income, cheaper for local incomes than in 50% of UK towns. The average private rent of £1,318 a month takes 29% of that income.
Are house prices falling in Exeter?
The median sale has been about £295,000 in each of the last three years to August, after peaking at £310,000 in the year to August 2023. Over five years prices went up 7%, and over ten went up 32%.
What are the cheapest areas to buy in Exeter?
By council ward, Exwick (£240,000), St David's (£240,000) and St Thomas (£265,000) had the lowest median sale prices in the three years to August 2026; Duryard and St James the highest (£400,000). Part of the difference is the mix of homes: wards with more flats sell for less.
How much is rent in Exeter?
The ONS puts the average private rent in the Exeter council area at £1,318 a month in August 2026: £915 for one bedroom, £1,131 for two, £1,362 for three and £1,919 for four or more. Rents held flat over the year, against 4% across England.
How much is council tax in Exeter?
Band D is £2,495 for 2026–27, against England’s average of £2,392. Band A is £1,664 and Band C £2,218. Your bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
How much do I need to earn to buy in Exeter?
With a 10% deposit and borrowing of 4.5 times income, a household needs about £59,000 a year to buy the median Exeter home of £295,000, or about £36,000 for the median flat (£180,000).
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.