House prices surge to record high of £287,000
12-17-2015
By Western Daily Press
By Vicky Shaw
House prices have hit another record high and Campbell Robb, inset, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, says millions of people are stuck in expensive private renting because of the housing shortage
House prices surged to another record high of £287,000 across the UK and hit the £300,000 mark in England for the first time on average in October, according to official figures.
Across the UK, typical property values climbed by £1,000 month on month, from a previous record of £286,000 in September, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
UK property values were 7 per cent higher than a year earlier, accelerating from annual growth of 6.1 per cent in September.
In England, average house prices also edged up by £1,000 on the previous month – to stand at a new record high of £300,000.
House prices in England were 7.4 per cent higher than a year earlier, with the growth being driven by the East and the South East, which saw property values increase by 10.4 per cent and 9.5 per cent respectively.
In London, the average house price is now £531,000, after increasing by 7.7 per cent over the last year.
House prices in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all sat below their all-time highs in October.
In Wales, property values edged up by 1 per cent year on year to reach £174,000 on average. The index for Wales is just 0.3 per cent below the record level seen in January.
In Scotland, house prices increased by 0.9 per cent annually to reach £196,000 typically. House prices in Scot- land are around 5 per cent below their record levels seen in March this year. Northern Ireland has seen house prices leap by 10.3 per cent over the last year, similar to the level of house price growth seen in the East of England.
The ONS figures also show that first-time buyers face paying around 5.9 per cent more for a property than they did a year ago, with the average price paid by someone taking their first step on the property ladder at £218,000 in October.
Campbell Robb, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said: "Right now, millions of people across the country are stuck in expensive private renting because of our housing shortage, with barely enough money left over each month to pay for essentials, let alone save for a deposit.
"So while it's promising to see the Government finally focusing on building more homes, unless those homes are genuinely affordable to people on ordinary incomes instead of just higher earners, this crisis will never truly be solved."