House prices in the UK fell compared to last year, the first time since 2012, according to official data.
British house prices saw their first annual decline since 2012 in September while rents surged last month, underlining the weak state of the housing market, according to official ONS data.
House prices decreased by 0.1% in the year to September, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said – the first annual fall since April 2012, after a 0.8% increase in August.
Prices in London declined 1.1%.
The average UK house price was £291,000 (€334,079) in September 2023.
Britain’s housing market, which boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been hit by higher borrowing costs as the Bank of England battles the highest rate of inflation among large advanced economies.
Mortgage lenders Halifax and Nationwide both reported that house prices continued to decline in annual terms in October, although prices rose slightly on a monthly basis.
Rental prices are skyrocketing
The ONS’s gauge of private rents rose by 6.1% in the 12 months to October, the biggest annual increase since data collection started in 2016 and up from 5.7% in September.
Separate figures from the Ministry of Justice last week showed the number of no-fault eviction claims in England surged to the highest in more than seven years.
No-fault eviction claims, which allow landlords to end tenancies without giving specific reason and go to court when tenants refuse to leave voluntarily, jumped 38% in the three months to September from the same period last year.
While no-fault evictions were barred during the pandemic, The Renters Reform Bill, legislation aimed at imposing a permanent ban, has faced constant delays.
Source: Euro News
