The borough average was £452,845 in August, £557 down on a year earlier. July's first annual rise since March has been restated as a 0.5% fall.
The average Tunbridge Wells home was worth £452,845 in August. That is £557 less than in August 2025, a fall of 0.1 per cent. The figures come from the UK House Price Index for August 2026, published by HM Land Registry on 21 October.
The bigger news is a correction. In September we reported that July had brought the borough’s first annual rise since March, at £456,227 and 0.6 per cent up on the year. The August release restates July as £451,247, down 0.5 per cent on the year. That is £4,980 lower than first published, and the rise has gone.
As the figures now stand, Tunbridge Wells has been lower than a year earlier in every month from April to August.
One caution before the numbers. The index average is a mean, produced by a statistical model, and a few very expensive sales pull it up. It is not the price of a typical home. The middle completed sale in this borough over the twelve months to June 2026 was £430,000, which is the figure on our Tunbridge Wells house prices page.
What the revision changed
The index is built from completed sales as they are registered with the Land Registry, and registration lags the sale. Each month’s release adds the late arrivals and recalculates recent months. The newest two months are the least settled.
July shows how far that can move a headline. Here is the same month as published twice:
| July 2026 | Average price | Change on the year |
|---|---|---|
| First published, 16 September | £456,227 | +0.6% |
| Restated, 21 October | £451,247 | -0.5% |
June has now been restated twice as well. It was first published at £445,133 (down 3.0 per cent), then £448,634 (down 2.3 per cent), and now stands at £447,330, down 2.5 per cent.
We have added a correction note to the July article. August’s own figure will be restated next month in the same way.
What moved by property type
Semis and terraces are still a little up on the year. Detached houses and flats are down.
| Property type | August 2026 average | Change on the year |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £858,368 | -0.4% |
| Semi-detached | £501,595 | +1.2% |
| Terraced | £405,347 | +0.8% |
| Flat | £257,815 | -2.1% |
Flats remain the weakest part of the market here, as they have been all year.
The index puts a first-time buyer purchase at £348,684 in August, unchanged on the year. A buyer who already owned a home paid £568,084, also unchanged. The step between the two is £219,400.
How that compares with the rest of Kent
Eight of Kent’s 13 local authority areas were lower than a year earlier. Tunbridge Wells sits in the middle of the table, level with Tonbridge and Malling.
| Area | August 2026 average | Change on the year |
|---|---|---|
| Swale | £296,578 | +0.6% |
| Medway | £297,757 | +0.5% |
| Dover | £282,945 | +0.4% |
| Sevenoaks | £535,810 | +0.4% |
| Gravesham | £342,498 | +0.3% |
| Tunbridge Wells | £452,845 | -0.1% |
| Tonbridge and Malling | £405,507 | -0.1% |
| Canterbury | £336,427 | -0.3% |
| Folkestone and Hythe | £302,106 | -0.7% |
| Ashford | £340,991 | -0.8% |
| Thanet | £268,549 | -0.8% |
| Maidstone | £352,878 | -1.1% |
| Dartford | £342,167 | -4.9% |
Kent as a whole was down 0.5 per cent at £345,200, and the South East down 0.8 per cent at £379,953. England was up 0.4 per cent at £293,525. Over the border in East Sussex, Wealden, which takes in Crowborough about seven miles south, was down 1.6 per cent at £380,679.
Across England, 107 of the 295 local authority areas were lower on the year. Tunbridge Wells was one of four at -0.1 per cent, the smallest fall recorded. It is still the second most expensive place to buy in Kent, after Sevenoaks.
The longer view
The index is set so that 2023 equals 100. Tunbridge Wells reads 99.9 in August, against 102.7 for England and 102.2 for Sevenoaks. Prices here are where they were three years ago, while the country has moved on.
The borough’s highest month is still December 2022, at £471,251. August’s average is £18,406 below that, 3.9 per cent lower.
How many homes are selling
The first sales count for June 2026 is 73, against 142 in June 2025. That number will rise as registrations catch up. May’s count shows how much: it was 89 in last month’s release and is 107 in this one, against 131 in May 2025.
Even allowing for that, fewer homes are changing hands in the borough than a year ago.
What it means for you
- If you are selling, the market has not turned. On the restated figures the borough average has been below the previous year’s level for five months running.
- If you own a flat, yours is the type falling fastest, down 2.1 per cent on the year.
- If you are buying, use the median for your area rather than the index mean. We publish it by parish, ward and postcode on the house prices page.
- If you are challenging a council tax band, today’s prices do not help: bands rest on 1 April 1991 values. Our council tax bands page has this year’s charges.
- Treat any single month with care. July went from a rise to a fall in one revision. August’s figure will move too.
The September figures are due from HM Land Registry in November.
Sources: UK House Price Index for August 2026, HM Land Registry, published 21 October 2026; the UK HPI full file for August 2026, from which every borough, property-type, buyer-type, sales, index, Kent and England figure here is taken; the UK HPI full file for July 2026 and UK House Price Index for June 2026 for the July and June figures as first published. The £430,000 median is our own count of completed sales from HM Land Registry Price Paid data, set out on our Tunbridge Wells house prices page.
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