House prices fall for first time in over a decade - ONS

House prices edged lower in September, official data showed on Wednesday, the first annual fall for more than a decade, as rents rose at a record rate.

According to the latest provisional House Price Index from the Office for National Statistics, average UK house prices decreased by 0.1% in the 12 months to September.

The ONS said that the decline, which compares to a revised 0.8% increase in August, was the first official fall since April 2012.

The cost of an average house in the UK was £291,000, little changed on September 2022.

By region, the biggest falls were seen in Wales, where prices slid 2.7% to £215,000. In England they eased 0.5% to £310,000, but in Scotland they rose by 2.5%, to £195,000.

Month-on-month, house prices decreased by 0.5% in September on a seasonally-adjusted basis, following a 0.7% uplift in August.

Private rents, meanwhile, surged by 6.1% in the year to October, the ONS noted, the biggest annual hike since records began in 2016.

The UK property market has been hit by higher interest rates as well as a surge in mortgage rates on the back of last autumn’s disastrous mini-budget.

The Bank of England has now increased the cost of borrowing 14 times since December 2021, to 5.25%, as it seeks to tackle inflation.

Data published on Wednesday showed a larger-than-expected fall in inflation, to 4.6% in October, although it remains well above the central bank’s 2% target.