It is also largely those London boroughs with the most expensive property that have seen the sharpest price rises over the past five years.
There are, however, pockets outside Southern England where property fetches a high price per square metre, including Altrincham, Edinburgh, Solihull, and Leamington Spa in Warwickshire.
Most Expensive Areas
Kensington & Chelsea is Britain's most expensive area with an average price of £10,854 per m2 and also has the highest average house price in Great Britain (£857,225). Eleven London boroughs have an average price in excess of £5,000 per m2. The top 20 most expensive areas in Britain are all London boroughs and the 48 most expensive are all in London and the South East .
Altrincham is the most expensive town on a per square metre basis outside southern England with an average price of £2,227 per m2. This is followed by Edinburgh (£2,214). Solihull (£2,189), and Leamington Spa in the West Midlands (£2,144).
Least Expensive
Stanley in County Durhamin the North has the lowest average price (£818 per m²) of all the towns surveyed in Great Britain. The average price per square metre in Kensington & Chelsea is more than thirteen times that in Stanley.
All ten of the towns with the lowest prices per square metre are outside the south of England. Five of the towns with the lowest average price per square metre are in Scotland, they include Wishaw (£925), Lanark (£957), Greenock (£976), Airdrie (982) and Kilmarnock (£986).
Price Changes 2009-2014
The ten areas recording the highest house price growth on a per square metre (m2) basis over the last five years are all London boroughs. Lambeth (61%) recorded the biggest increase over the five year period. The country's most expensive area, Kensington and Chelsea, has also recorded the second biggest price rise (56%). Eight of the most expensive areas in Britain also feature amongst the ten areas recording the highest house price increases since 2009.
Nationally, house prices per square metre have risen by 13% since 2009. Greater London has experienced significantly faster growth (34%) than elsewhere with South East (13%) recording the next biggest increase. In contrast, the North (-3%) and Scotland (-5%) have seen prices per square metre fall since 2009.
By way of comparison, between May 2009 and May 2014 the FTSE All Share Total Return Index increased by 99%, and the price of gold increased by 45%.
Average Property Size
At a regional level, Wales (116 m²), East Anglia (115 m²) and the North (114 m²) had, on average, the largest homes sold in the past 12 months. London (92 m²) had the smallest, at just over three-quarters the average in Wales.
Craig McKinlay, Mortgages Director, Halifax, said: "House price per square metre is a useful measure for house price comparison because it helps to adjust for differences in the size and type of properties between locations.
“While there are areas in central London that are more expensive than anywhere else in the country, there are notable pockets outside the South East where property also has a high price per square metre. Many of those areas experiencing the strongest increases over the past few years are those with the highest price per square metre."
Ten Most Expensive towns per Square Metre outside Southern England
1: Kensington and Chelsea
Greater London 10,854
2: Westminster
Greater London 8,925
3: Hammersmith and Fulham
Greater London 7,804
4: Camden
Greater London 7,794
5: Islington
Greater London 6,868
6: Wandsworth
Greater London 5,971
7: Hackney
Greater London 5,418
8: Richmond upon Thames
Greater London 5,391
9: Southwark
Greater London 5,111
10: Lambeth
Greater London 5,108
Ten Least Expensive towns per Square Metre in Great Britain
1: Stanley
North 818
2: Pontypool
Wales 902
3: Wishaw
Scotland 925
4: Accrington
North West 935
5: Llanelli
Wales 947
6: Lanark
Scotland 957
7: Blyth
North 967
8: Greenock
Scotland 976
9: Airdrie
Scotland 982
10: Kilmarnock
Scotland 986
