Yahoo Finance A room in London now costs more than a whole house in the North East
The price of a single room in London is now more than an entire house in the North East according to an analysis from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
For the first time, the ONS has broken down the cost of property prices across the country by the size of the properties in question.
In 2016 the cost of a house in London per habitable room - i.e. excluding bathrooms, conservatories, kitchens and utility rooms - was £132,926.
This is more than the average cost of an entire property in the North East of England, worth £128,000 in July 2016 according to the ONS' house price index.
The price per room of properties in London has increased by 99 per cent over the past 12 years, more than double the national average rate of 46 per cent.
You could lose money if you build an extension in the North East and Wales
The figures also revealed that building an extension could lose you money in vast swathes of England and Wales.
With earnings growth stalling, many are increasingly choosing to expand their existing homes rather than buying a new one. But the extent to which this is a sound investment varies wildly across the country.
The cost of an extension can easily cost in excess of £1,500 per sqm depending on the complexity and quality of the build.
In London, where the average property was worth £6,639 per sqm in 2016, this is likely to be an investment worth making, with big profits to be made when you eventually choose to move.
However in the North East of England - where each sqm was worth an average of £1,271 - and in Wales - where it was £1,408 - it would be very easy to lose money on the cost of an extension.
The average across the country is £2,395 per sqm.
Where do you get most bang for your buck?
On a local authority level the most expensive area of the country was Kensington and Chelsea where the cost of a single square metre of property would set you back an average of £19,439 last year. The average habitable room fetched £398,561.
The City of London and Westminster were second and third on the London-dominated list of places where you get least space for your money.
At the other end of the scale, Blaenau Gwent in South Wales represented the best value for money in terms of space with each square metere costing an average of £777.
London is even more of an outlier when property size is factored in
London's house prices have been galloping ahead of the rest of the country over the past decade and the disparity is even more pronounced when looking a the price of properties relative to their size.
The average house in London sold for an average of 2.1 times the England and Wales average of £237,720 in the ONS's latest house price index.
On a price per sqm basis this ratio was extended to 2.8 times the national average.
