Imofolio
Sign inGet started for free

Wakefield · report

Buy or rent in Wakefield

Renting the average home costs less each month than owning it. Owning counts interest, running costs and the return the deposit could earn, at the average sale price; rent is the average of all private tenancies. Repaying the loan is saving, so it is left out.

Rent per month
£810
Owning per month
£938

Try your own numbers

Starting from the average sale price of £199,283 and the average private rent of £810 a month in Wakefield, and a mortgage rate of 4.6%.

Assumptions
4.6
1
Buildings insurance, maintenance, and any service charge and ground rent. Council tax is paid by tenants too, so it is left out.
3
What the deposit and purchase costs could earn if invested instead.
7
Stamp duty (land transaction tax in Wales, LBTT in Scotland), conveyancing, survey and lender's fees, paid once.

Renting costs less each month than owning.

Rent a month
£810
Owning a month, not recovered
£938
Interest
£688
Running costs
£166
Return given up
£85
Cash out a month, if buying
£1,086

Gross rental yield in Wakefield

A year's rent as a share of the average sale price, month by month. Higher means rent is dear compared with buying.

Show the numbers
PeriodWakefield
Aug 20264.9%
Jul 20264.8%
Jun 20264.8%
May 20264.8%
Apr 20264.8%
Mar 20264.8%
Feb 20264.7%
Jan 20264.8%
Dec 20254.7%
Nov 20254.7%
Oct 20254.7%
Sep 20254.7%
Aug 20254.7%
Jul 20254.7%
Jun 20254.8%
May 20254.7%
Apr 20254.7%
Mar 20254.7%
Feb 20254.7%
Jan 20254.7%
Dec 20244.7%
Nov 20244.7%
Oct 20244.7%
Sep 20244.6%
Aug 20244.5%
Jul 20244.6%
Jun 20244.8%
May 20244.9%
Apr 20244.9%
Mar 20244.8%
Feb 20244.9%
Jan 20244.9%
Dec 20234.8%
Nov 20234.7%
Oct 20234.6%
Sep 20234.5%
Aug 20234.5%
Jul 20234.5%
Jun 20234.6%
May 20234.5%
Apr 20234.5%
Mar 20234.4%
Feb 20234.3%
Jan 20234.2%
Dec 20224.2%
Nov 20224.3%
Oct 20224.2%
Sep 20224.2%
Aug 20224.2%
Jul 20224.3%
Jun 20224.3%
May 20224.4%
Apr 20224.4%
Mar 20224.4%
Feb 20224.4%
Jan 20224.4%
Dec 20214.4%
Nov 20214.4%
Oct 20214.4%
Sep 20214.4%
Aug 20214.4%
Jul 20214.4%
Jun 20214.4%
May 20214.5%
Apr 20214.5%
Mar 20214.5%
Feb 20214.6%
Jan 20214.6%
Dec 20204.7%
Nov 20204.8%
Oct 20204.8%
Sep 20204.9%
Aug 20204.9%
Jul 20204.8%
Jun 20204.9%
May 20204.8%
Apr 20204.9%
Mar 20204.9%
Feb 20204.9%
Jan 20204.9%
Dec 20194.8%
Nov 20194.8%
Oct 20194.8%
Sep 20194.8%
Aug 20194.8%
Jul 20194.8%
Jun 20194.8%
May 20194.8%
Apr 20194.8%
Mar 20194.8%
Feb 20194.8%
Jan 20194.7%
Dec 20184.7%
Nov 20184.8%
Oct 20184.8%
Sep 20184.9%
Aug 20184.8%
Jul 20184.9%
Jun 20185.0%
May 20185.1%
Apr 20185.1%
Mar 20185.0%
Feb 20185.0%
Jan 20185.0%
Dec 20175.0%
Nov 20175.0%
Oct 20174.9%
Sep 20174.9%
Aug 20174.9%
Jul 20174.9%
Jun 20175.1%
May 20175.1%
Apr 20175.2%
Mar 20175.2%
Feb 20175.2%
Jan 20175.1%
Dec 20165.1%
Nov 20165.1%
Oct 20165.1%
Sep 20165.1%
Aug 20165.1%
Jul 20165.1%
Jun 20165.1%
May 20165.2%
Apr 20165.2%
Mar 20165.3%
Feb 20165.3%
Jan 20165.3%
Dec 20155.3%
Nov 20155.4%
Oct 20155.4%
Sep 20155.3%
Aug 20155.3%
Jul 20155.3%
Jun 20155.3%
May 20155.3%
Apr 20155.4%
Mar 20155.5%
Feb 20155.6%
Jan 20155.5%

The comparison counts only the costs of owning you never get back: interest, running costs and what the deposit and purchase costs could earn elsewhere. Loan repayments build equity, so they are left out. So is any rise in the home's value, because nobody knows it in advance. Rents here are ONS's average of all private tenancies, new and continuing, which runs below what a new tenant pays; Scotland's are mostly advertised new lets, and its councils and Northern Ireland's take their nation's figure.

Other reports for Wakefield

Next 12 months

Sale prices have an 80% chance of landing between £193,171 and £210,903 by August 2027.

Expected, August 2027
£202,037
Chance of a rise
65%

Affordability

At the average sale price, a home costs £199,283. With 10% down and a 30-year mortgage, the payment is £919 a month. The UK sets no cap on the payment; no more than 15% of new mortgages may lend over 4.5 times income.

Payment, two incomes
16%
Payment, one income
32%

New homes

22.8% fewer homes were started in the last 12 months than in an average year of the past decade.

Started, 12 months
940
Per 1,000 residents
2.5

Foreign buyers

Figures for United Kingdom: Wakefield has no reliable figures of its own.

Buyers living abroad bought 1.8% of the homes sold here in the four quarters to Q1 2025.

Bought by buyers abroad, 12 months
1.8%

Past cycles

Sale prices have fallen by 3% or more 5 times since 1995. The deepest began in December 2007.

Deepest fall
−21.4%
Recovery from the low
64 months

People and new homes

In 2025 the population grew by 2,657 while 730 homes were finished: 3.6 new residents for every new home.

New residents per new home, 2025
3.6
Population change, 2025
+2,657

Empty homes

4.8% of the 161,073 homes counted in the 2021 census had nobody usually living in them.

Empty, 2021 census
4.8%
Empty homes
7,750

Renovation

In 2025, 8% of the homes added came from existing buildings rather than new ones.

Homes from existing buildings, 2025
8%