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Housing Solicitors

Housing minister welcomes rise in house prices (4 April 2014)

Date: 04/04/2014
Duncan Lewis, Housing Solicitors, Housing minister welcomes rise in house prices

Housing Minister Kris Hopkins has welcomed the rise in housing prices across the UK, saying that house prices are “nowhere near the peak at this moment in time”.

New figures show that in London house prices have risen by 18.2% – meaning many buyers could be priced out of the market.

The government’s Help to Buy scheme, which applies to properties up to £600,000, has helped fuel the competition to buy available properties and increase house prices. However, in central London, a one-bedroom flat can cost between £300,000 and £500,000, on average. In London, the average property price is £363, 699.

In the southeast of the UK, house prices rose by 10.1% on average, pushing the average price of a house up to £217,534.

The Bank of England has called for a reduction in the property value limit of £600,000 available for first-time buyers under the Help to Buy scheme – and has suggested that the limit should even be halved to just £300,000. However, this would mean that first-time buyers in some areas of the country – such as central London – might not be able to buy.

The Help to Buy scheme was due to be reviewed by the Bank of England in September but has been extended to help more first-time buyers get on the housing ladder.

Mr Hopkins said that homeowners could expect the value of their properties to continue to rise in the current housing boom, but said that house prices were still below property prices before the credit crunch set in after the 20068 banking crisis.

Mr Hopkins’s comments have provoked anger from housing charity Shelter, whose research in November 2013 showed that more families are having to rent homes rather than buy them – and many renters are living in poor quality housing because landlords and freeholders fail to effect essential repairs and maintenance.

Chief executive of Shelter, Campbell Robb, said that unless house prices were stabilised, many people would see their dream of buying their own home “slip further out of reach”.

“No matter how hard young people and families work or save, these days most simply can’t afford a home of their own and are instead facing a lifetime of unstable renting,” Mr Robb said.

“If we want to give the next generation a fighting chance, the government has to get serious about building the homes we need now.

“Another rise in house prices is another rise in people left priced out,” he added.
Across the country house prices have risen by 9.5% on average, making the average property price £180, 264.

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