House prices rocket at their quickest pace since 2003

The UK’s house prices have risen at the quickest pace since 2003, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) says.

The figures are based on the Land Registry’s final sale prices and show those prices rose by 15.5% from July last year, to July 2022.

That’s a much higher rise than was seen in June at 7.8%.

The ONS says that the rise is mainly down to market conditions in 2021 when house prices fell slightly around changes to the stamp duty holiday.

House price inflation has been slowing down

The data published by ONS lags other housing market data produced by mortgage lenders the property search websites, but they all show that house price inflation has been slowing down over the last two months.

A large reason for this is the growing impact of the cost-of-living crisis.

The data highlights that the average house price in the UK grew by £6,000 between June and July, compared with a drop over the same period last year of £13,000.

The average house price in July was £292,000, that’s £39,000 more than for July 2021.

England’s average house price rose

When the figures are broken down, England’s average house price rose by 16.4% to £312,000.

In Wales, prices rose by 17.6% to £220,000, and in Scotland, prices grew by 9.9% to £193,000.

House prices in Northern Ireland rose by 9.6% to £169,000.

Gary Wright, the co-CEO of payment technology firm flatfair, said: “Rising interest rates and tightening purse strings are yet to have a substantial impact on house prices.

“In the meantime, rent has increased more than 17% in London in the last year.

“The current situation is simply unsustainable.”

‘Tenants stuck between a rock and a hard place’

He added: “With tenants stuck between a rock and a hard place – unable to afford a house but barely able to afford rent – policymakers need to be directing their attention toward Generation Rent.

“Encouraging a shift away from the punishing traditional deposit system would be a good start.”

Phil Tennant, the chief operating officer at iBuyer UPSTIX, said: “What we’re seeing is the calm before the storm.

“With rates inevitably rising further and household budgets under pressure, mortgage affordability is under threat.

“It’s only a matter of time before these macro headwinds trickle down to affect the wider housing market, impacting both prices and sales times.”

He added: “It’s also important to note that the ONS figures lag behind other datasets, which are also recording a slowdown.

“While there will always be sellers who need to move, regardless of the market, those who have built equity over the recent period of record growth stand to gain substantially – provided they move quickly to maximise returns.”

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