House prices in BL (Bolton)
Price per square metre data and charts to help you understand the housing market in BL - stats were last calculated on 01 November 2026.
Defining postcode area 'BL'
This analysis is limited to properties whose postcode starts with "BL", this is also called the postcode area. There are no official postcode area names, so it is labelled BL, Bolton. It is shown in red on the map below.
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Price per square metre
Knowing the average house price in BL is not much use. However, knowing average price per square metre can be quite useful. Price per sqm allows some comparison between properties of different size. We define price per square metre as the sold price divided by the internal area of a property:
£ per sqm = price ÷ internal area
For example in September 2026, 77, Rawsthorne Street, Bolton, BL1 3QQ sold for £143,000. Given the internal area of 88 square metres recorded on the EPC, the price per sqm is £143,000 ÷ 88 sqm = £1,625.
England & Wales have been officially metric since 1965. However house price per square foot is prefered by some estate agents and those of sufficiently advanced age ;-). You can change your prefered units from square meters to square feet for all the graphs and charts on BL and elsewhere. Just visit the My Account page and look for the m2 to ft2 toggle switch. Alternatively just multiply everything by 10, move a decimal place to go from sqm to sqft and you'll be close enough as 1 sqm = 10.76391 sqft.
Distribution of £ per sqm for houses vs flats in BL
Tip: click on the legend labels to show/hide different property types.
The chart above is called a histogram, it helps you see the distribution of house price per sqm in BL To make this chart we put all the sales data into a series of £ per sqm 'buckets' (e.g. £2,555 to £2,705, £2,705 to £2,854, £2,854 to £3,003 etc...) we then count the number of sales with within in each bucket and plot the results. The histogram is based on 4,249 sales that took place in BL in the last 12 months.
Generate a custom histogram like the one above but based on your own criteria.
You can see the spread of prices above. This is because although internal area is a key factor in determining valuation, it is not the only factor. Many factors other than size affect desirability; these factors could be condition, aspect, garden size, negotiating power of the vendor etc.
The spread of prices will give you a feel of the typical range to expect in BL, Bolton. Notably, only 25% of properties that sold recently were valued at more than £3,130 sqm. For anything to be valued more than this means it has to be more desireable than the clear majority of BL homes.
Box plot of £ per sqm for BL
Tip: click on the chart to see the values.
The chart above is called a boxplot (or a box-and-whisker plot). Box plots, like histograms, are used to graphically represent the distribution of data, showing the central tendency, spread of the distribution. In the context of £ per square metre property price distributions, box plots represent the variation in property prices within a geographic area e.g. BL. The chart above shows a boxplot for 'BL' broken down by property type (Flats, Semi-detached, Detached and Terraced). Almost everywhere houses command higher prices per square metre than flats, and detached houses most of all.
Does £ per sqm vary by property size and type?
A common question is whether price per sqm varies by property size and type. In other words can we fairly compare the price per sqm between two properties of different sizes? The charts below go some way to answering this question in the context of BL. TLDR; there is some effect, but after you control for property type the effect is less than you might expect.
The first chart shows the distribution of price per sqm by property size. This shows that as the size of properties increase, there is not a significant corresponding change in £ per sqm. The second chart shows the same distribution split by property type. Custom charts are available with a paid plan.
Density distribution
Price per square metre distribution by property size
Shows the distribution of property prices per square metre in BL.
Distribution by property type
Price per square metre distribution by size and property type
Shows the distribution of different property types in BL.
Property price map for Bolton
Have a look at the interactive price map. Use it to explore house prices in 'Bolton' all the way down to individual property plots.
Price trends
House prices in 'BL' Bolton grew 1.5% in the last year, -1.6% after inflation. Whether or not this trend will continue depends on many factors. No one can say what house prices will do in the future. The chart below plots price trends for postcode area 'BL', split by property type. You can extrapolate from this based on what you think will happen to wage growth, net migration, interest rates and the level of house building.
House price index for BL
Tip: click on the legend items to show/hide different lines
Download house price index as CSV (premium users only).
The chart above shows changes in 'BL' property prices over the last 20 years. The index is calculated from the average price paid per sqm for property in BL and is set to 100 in 2004. The chart compares trends for Flats vs Houses in BL. You can see how different they are. Keep this in mind when you see any price index that doesn't provide this breakdown.
The dashed lines show nominal house price changes, the solid lines show the same data adjusted for inflation. Economists call this the 'real' price change. You have to take inflation into account when comparing prices over time. It's calculated using the formula:
Real Rate of Return = (1 + Nominal Rate) ÷ (1 + Inflation Rate) – 1In this formula, the nominal rate is the rate of change before any adjustments, and the inflation rate is taken from the Consumer Price Index. The real rate of return is a more accurate measure of change in value, because £1 today does not have the same buying power as £1 in the past. For example, if a savings account pays an interest rate of 3% per year and the inflation rate is 5% per year, the real rate of return is -2%. This means that the investment's value is shrinking by 2% each year.
Historic returns for BL
| All | Flats | Houses | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominal | Real | Nominal | Real | Nominal | Real | |
| 20 yr per annum | 2.9% | 0.1% | 2.8% | 0.0% | 3.1% | 0.3% |
| 20 yr total | 78.6% | 2.5% | 75.2% | 0.5% | 84.0% | 5.6% |
| 10 yr per annum | 5.0% | 1.5% | 4.8% | 1.4% | 5.2% | 1.7% |
| 10 yr total | 62.2% | 16.3% | 60.1% | 14.7% | 65.7% | 18.8% |
| 5 yr per annum | 4.2% | -0.8% | 4.0% | -0.9% | 4.3% | -0.6% |
| 5 yr total | 22.6% | -3.8% | 21.8% | -4.5% | 23.6% | -3.1% |
| 1 yr per annum | 1.5% | -1.6% | 0.9% | -2.2% | 3.3% | 0.1% |
| 1 yr total | 1.5% | -1.6% | 0.9% | -2.2% | 3.3% | 0.1% |
This table complements the house price index chart above, presenting the data in a more detailed format. It breaks down the information into 20-year, 10-year, 5-year, and 1-year periods, further categorized by property type. For each period, we display both a per annum rate of change and a total rate of change.
The total rate of change represents the overall change over the entire period. The formula for total return is:
Total return = (Index at end of period ÷ Index at start of period) - 1
The per annum rate of change is the annualized rate of change over the period. This is equivalent to the annual bank savings rate you would need to achieve the same total return over the given period. This annualized return is also known as the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR). The formula for CAGR is:
CAGR = (1 + Total return) ^ (1 ÷ Number of years) - 1
Some specific examples:
- Over the past 20 years, Flats have seen a 0.0% annual change when adjusted for inflation. This translates to a total change of 0.5% in real terms.
- Over the past 5 years, Houses have seen a -0.6% annual change when adjusted for inflation. This translates to a total change of -3.1% in real terms.
Snakes & Ladders
See the recent winners & losers in the BL property market. This is not deep analysis - it is a nosy, tabloid-style peek at the local property market.
BL's constituents
The analysis on this page encompasses the entirety of BL. If you want more granular analysis on different parts of BL, use these links.
| Postcode district | Lower quartile | Median | Upper quartile | Sales in last 2yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BL0 Ramsbottom | £2,450 sqm | £2,910 sqm | £3,540 sqm | 544 |
| BL1 Bolton | £1,750 sqm | £2,190 sqm | £2,840 sqm | 1,785 |
| BL2 Bolton | £1,930 sqm | £2,490 sqm | £3,060 sqm | 1,229 |
| BL3 Bolton | £1,720 sqm | £2,230 sqm | £2,860 sqm | 1,254 |
| BL4 Farnworth | £1,740 sqm | £2,170 sqm | £2,640 sqm | 853 |
| BL5 Westhoughton | £2,130 sqm | £2,690 sqm | £3,230 sqm | 1,002 |
| BL6 Horwich | £2,040 sqm | £2,570 sqm | £3,170 sqm | 1,191 |
| BL7 Bromley Cross | £2,460 sqm | £3,020 sqm | £3,560 sqm | 496 |
| BL8 Bury | £2,250 sqm | £2,810 sqm | £3,450 sqm | 1,042 |
| BL9 Bury | £1,960 sqm | £2,470 sqm | £3,060 sqm | 1,386 |
Nearby geographies
The table below shows how 'BL' compares to the other postcode areas nearby 'BL'.
| Area | Lower quartile | Median | Upper quartile | Sales in last 1yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WN- Wigan | £1,690 sqm | £2,250 sqm | £2,830 sqm | 3,579 |
| PR- Preston | £1,910 sqm | £2,450 sqm | £2,920 sqm | 6,875 |
| OL- Oldham | £1,950 sqm | £2,490 sqm | £3,060 sqm | 4,769 |
| M- Manchester | £2,440 sqm | £3,100 sqm | £3,790 sqm | 12,268 |
| BL- Bolton | £1,970 sqm | £2,510 sqm | £3,130 sqm | 4,249 |
| BB- Blackburn | £1,270 sqm | £1,850 sqm | £2,560 sqm | 6,309 |
Raw data
Our analysis of BL is derived from what is essentially a big table of sold prices from Land Registry with added property size information. Below are three rows from this table to give you an idea.
| Address | Paid | sqm | £/sqm |
|---|---|---|---|
| 77, Rawsthorne St, | £143,000
Sep-2026
|
88 | 1,625 |
| 9, Barlow Close, | £292,000
Sep-2026
|
100 | 2,920 |
| 14, Smethurst Lane, | £105,000
Sep-2026
|
81 | 1,296 |
Search the raw data here.
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