Analysis from Rightmove showed the price of a typical 3-4-bedroom second-stepper home was 52% more than a typical first-time buyer home with up to two rooms, valued at £345,857 and £226,955 respectively.
This means homeowners would need £118,902 to upgrade to a larger second home. Rightmove said the gap in cash terms had been larger on only two previous occasions – in May and June 2025.
For a first-time buyer with a 20% deposit, this would require them to increase their £45,391 deposit to £69,171 to trade up, meaning they would need an extra £23,780 in equity either by overpaying their mortgage, saving or the value of their home rising.
The price gap for buyers in the South East is larger, with a 61% difference between a typical first-time buyer home at £286,748 and second-stepper home at £460,781.
This is followed by London, where there is a 60% gap between the values of £491,661 and £788,528 between an average first-time buyer home and second-stepper property respectively.
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Trading up is most affordable in Yorkshire and the Humber, where a second-stepper home is 38% more expensive – at £251,885 – than a first-time buyer home worth £182,029.
The second-smallest price is in Wales, with a 40% difference.
The cost of trading up from a flat to a house
Rightmove said the stagnant price growth of flats was contributing to the price gap between first and second homes, as flats are often used as starter homes.
The average house is 26% higher than the typical flat, at £301,338 compared to £379,526 respectively. The last time the gap was larger was in September last year, when the difference was 27%.
Over the last decade, the average flat has increased by just 8% in value, while house prices have risen by 34%.
Rightmove attributed most of this increase to the race for space seen during the Covid-19 pandemic, which accelerated the price difference between a house and a flat. In February 2020, the difference was £24,010, and this year, it increased to £78,198.
Colleen Babcock, Rightmove’s property expert, said: “The race for space that began during the pandemic caused a major shift between houses and flats, and it’s a shift we’re still feeling today.
“Flats, which make up a much larger share of first-time buyer homes and markets like London, have seen slower price growth, while houses have pulled further ahead. Concerns around leaseholds and ground rents are also likely weighing on flat prices.”
