Bath and North East Somerset vs South Hams: buying or renting a home

A typical terraced house costs £82,500 (30%) more in Bath and North East Somerset than in South Hams. Measured against local pay, buying is harder in Bath and North East Somerset: it takes 8.8× median annual pay, against 7.1× in South Hams.

At a glance

Buying rates the typical price of all homes against median pay; renting rates a year of average rent against median pay; crime rates recorded crime per resident against the England and Wales average.

What the numbers say

Median full-time pay in South Hams (£38,638) is 4% lower than in Bath and North East Somerset (£40,448), while a typical terraced house costs 23% less (£275,000 against £357,500). Set against local pay, South Hams is the easier of the two for a typical earner to buy in.

Buying a terraced house takes 8.8× annual pay in Bath and North East Somerset and 7.1× in South Hams. Renting one takes 60% of pay in Bath and North East Somerset and 29% in South Hams. Both are harder in Bath and North East Somerset, and the gap is wider for renting.

Across all property types and measured against pay, Bath and North East Somerset is the 67th most expensive of 316 areas to buy in, and South Hams is the 85th most expensive of 316 areas. For renting against pay, Bath and North East Somerset is the 16th most expensive of 316 areas and South Hams is around the middle of 316 areas (179th most expensive).

Someone on £40,000 in Bath and North East Somerset would need about £31,000 in South Hams to be equally placed to buy a terraced house, and about £19,000 to be equally placed to rent one. Keeping the same pay after a move to South Hams would leave you better placed to buy. These figures compare housing costs only; they ignore other living costs and the pay you could earn in a new job.

Police recorded 79.1 crimes per 1,000 residents in Bath and North East Somerset and 46.3 in South Hams, so recorded crime per resident is 41% lower in South Hams. The biggest difference is in vehicle offences: 3.5 per 1,000 in Bath and North East Somerset against 1.3 in South Hams.

Can a typical earner buy?

Buying, by property type

Renting, by property type

Crime

Police recorded 79.1 crimes per 1,000 residents in Bath and North East Somerset and 46.3 in South Hams, so recorded crime per resident is 41% lower in South Hams.

Rates use resident population, so city centres and student areas show higher crime per resident than residents experience. Recorded crime also depends on reporting and police recording practice.

How prices have changed in each area

Average house price for all property types, indexed so that 2005 is 100. A line at 200 means prices have doubled.

In 2005 the average home cost £202,782 in Bath and North East Somerset and £228,256 in South Hams. Now it is £412,867 and £362,244: Bath and North East Somerset is up 104% and South Hams is up 59%. Prices have risen faster in Bath and North East Somerset, so the gap between the two has narrowed.

Buying a home against local pay, over time

Average house price divided by median full-time pay. Higher means harder to afford.

In 2005 a home cost 8.8 years of pay in Bath and North East Somerset and 9.9 years in South Hams. In 2025 it was 10.2 years and 9.7 years.

Affordability has worsened more in Bath and North East Somerset over that time.

How rents have changed in each area

Average monthly rent for all property types, indexed so that 2015 is 100.

In 2015 the average rent was £1,091 a month in Bath and North East Somerset and £686 in South Hams. Now it is £1,885 and £1,012: up 73% in Bath and North East Somerset and up 48% in South Hams. Rents have risen faster in Bath and North East Somerset.

What your salary is worth in each area

Salary needed to afford the same kind of home (terraced), going by median prices and average rents.

Moving from Bath and North East Somerset to South Hams

Moving from South Hams to Bath and North East Somerset

All Bath and North East Somerset figures · All South Hams figures