House price annual inflation grew by 9.7% in England, 5.3% in Wales, 2.4% in Scotland and 2.8% in Northern Ireland. House price growth is increasing strongly across most parts of the UK, with prices in London again showing the highest growth.
Annual house price increases in England were driven by rises in London (17.7%), the South East (8.0%) and the East of England (7.7%) - however, excluding London and the South East, UK house prices increased by 5.8% in the 12 months to February 2014.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices increased by 1.9% between January and February 2014.
In February 2014, prices paid by first-time buyers were 10.5% higher on average than in February 2013. For owner-occupiers (existing owners), prices increased by 8.6% for the same period.
Stephen Smith, Director Mortgage Club and Housing, comments on today’s ONS House Price Index:
“Latest figures show that house prices have increased by 9.1% in the last year in the UK. However, the picture is extremely regional. With house prices in London rising 17.7%, the capital is at risk of becoming unaffordable to many people. Despite this, other areas of the UK have seen a much steadier growth, with house prices in the North East only rising 2.9% in the year to February.
"Whilst there has been a lot of commentary around house prices in the capital, policy makers cannot make decisions that will impact the whole country based simply on what is happening in London. The Government needs to maintain a balancing act between stimulating growth in some areas and ensuring that London and the South East don’t become unaffordable to families.”
Andy Knee, Chief Executive of LMS comments:
“The housing market continues to go from strength to strength. Even taking London and the South East out of the picture, UK prices increased by 5.8% in the 12 months to February 2014, a clear sign that that the resounding recovery is now increasingly being felt across all of the UK, not just the capital and home counties. Such a widespread resurgence and growth offers positive economic development to areas that have taken much longer to feel some of the bounce-back since the financial crash.
“But as with any equation, it is important that this growth is balanced by a vastly increased supply of homes. This is fundamental to ensure that generation rent is not priced out of the market because of such sustained growth. After seeing first time buyers pay prices 10.5% more than in February 2013, this is of the utmost importance. The government should strive to ensure affordable housing for people at the bottom of the property ladder and fulfil their promises on creating an additional supply of homes. This is especially true of aspiring buyers in London, which saw annual house price growth of 17.7%. It will be interesting to see the potential impact of MMR coming into play later this month which may cool the market as more rigorous borrowing measures are introduced.”
