"What’s particularly striking is the geography of the most active areas, with Croydon in South London leading the way, closely followed by locations such as Maidenhead and Waltham Forest"
- Steve Foreman - The Property DriveBuy
Croydon, Buckinghamshire and Waltham Forest have emerged as Britain’s busiest homebuying postcodes, according to new research from The Property DriveBuy. The analysis also suggests that buyers struggling to compete in high-demand areas could improve their chances by considering neighbouring postcodes.
The study examined housing market data for August, a month that is typically quieter due to the summer slowdown.
Busiest postcodes for buyer activity
The research found that:
Croydon’s CR0 district recorded 114 residential sales, the highest in the country.
The SL6 district, covering Maidenhead and neighbouring areas in Buckinghamshire, followed with 88 sales.
East London’s E17, in Waltham Forest, ranked third with 87 sales.
Bristol’s BS16 and Inverness’s IV2, in the Scottish Highlands, both saw 79 sales.
The rest of the top 10 included:
LE12 in Charnwood, North West Leicestershire (79)
BN2 and BN3 in Brighton (78 each)
ML3 in South Lanarkshire (76)
SW18 in Wandsworth, London (76)
Neighbouring postcodes offer relief
The findings show a sharp contrast in demand between adjacent postcode districts. In Croydon, for example, CR0 led the nation with 114 sales in August, while nearby CR2 recorded just 44 sales, reflecting a far less competitive environment for buyers seeking homes in the same area.
Regional leaders
Looking across the UK, the busiest postcode in each region included:
London: CR0, Croydon – 114 sales
South East: SL6, Maidenhead – 88 sales
East Midlands: LE12, Charnwood – 79 sales
South West: BS16, Bristol – 79 sales
Scotland: IV2, Inverness – 79 sales
North West: PR4, Preston – 72 sales
East of England: LU7, Central Bedfordshire – 71 sales
West Midlands: CV3, Coventry/Rugby/Warwick – 64 sales
Yorkshire & Humber: S6, Sheffield – 58 sales
Wales: CF14, Cardiff – 58 sales
North East: DH8, County Durham – 49 sales
“This research offers a compelling snapshot of the UK property market as it stands today,” said Steve Foreman, founder and chief executive of The Property DriveBuy. “What’s particularly striking is the geography of the most active areas, with Croydon in South London leading the way, closely followed by locations such as Maidenhead and Waltham Forest. These are all areas known for their excellent commuter links, diverse housing stock, and ongoing investment in infrastructure and regeneration. However, there are pockets of heightened activity across the nation and this highlights both the regional differences and more granular postcode trends that drive property market performance.”
Foreman noted that postcode contrasts can reveal opportunities. “The data also shows the sharp contrasts in activity between neighbouring postcode districts, as seen in Croydon’s CR0 and CR2. For buyers facing fierce competition in CR0, simply considering homes in the CR2 postcode, potentially just a street or two away, could uncover opportunities they hadn’t previously considered, all without leaving their preferred area. This is one of the key reasons that we designed the Property DriveBuy, so that homebuyers can discover properties they may not have previously considered, simply by exploring a little further afield than they may have originally planned.”
He added that the research points to resilient demand in certain parts of the market. “Overall, this August snapshot suggests that, despite broader economic headwinds, buyers remain highly motivated in areas where value meets quality of life. It reinforces the idea that localised demand, often shaped by access to jobs and visible long-term investment, continues to underpin the resilience of the UK housing market.”
