The Datum Report

Standing view · housing · Preston

The housing market in Preston has been losing ground.

deteriorating, held with strong confidence, formed on 31 August 2026 from movements in 2026-07.

Households served a no-fault eviction notice and owed a prevention duty in Preston rose to 22 in the first quarter of 2026, when 125 households were owed a prevention duty. The average house price was £187,709 in June 2026. Rents were steady: a two-bedroom home cost £723 a month in May and £729 in July, a one-bedroom home £571 in April, a three-bedroom home £853 in June and a home with four or more bedrooms £1,235 in March.

How this was decided

A view is formed only where the evidence names a figure you can check. Each movement listed as a reason had to be large enough to matter and distinctive in at least one way — unusual against this area's own history, unusual against comparable areas, or sustained over several periods. A movement shared with peers counts for less, because it says something about the country rather than about Preston. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.

The measure that formed this view

MeasurePeriodDirection
Prevention duty, section 21 notice2026-Q1deteriorating

Also published on this topic, but not counted

These figures carry no defensible direction of their own: a rising house price is good news to an owner and bad news to someone trying to buy, so we do not score one as an improvement. They are shown because they are part of the picture, and they did not decide the view above.

MeasurePeriodSeries
Prevention duty owed2026-Q1 rising
Average private rent, four or more bedrooms2026-03
Average private rent, one bedroom2026-04
Average private rent, two bedrooms2026-05
Average house price2026-06
Average private rent, three bedrooms2026-06
Average private rent, two bedrooms2026-07