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House prices rise says Land Registry

ended 17. June 2026

Average UK house prices increased by 3.8%, to £270,000, in the 12 months to April 2026, up from 0.0% in the 12 months to March 2026, official data published today showed. 

This was the highest UK annual inflation rate since March 2025 before Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) changes on 1 April 2025 and was up from the revised estimate of 0.0% in the 12 months to March 2026. 

The annual rate increased because average UK house prices experienced a modest monthly rise (0.7%) between March and April 2026, while there was a large monthly fall (-2.9%) in the same period a year ago.

A rise in the annual rate due to a large monthly fall a year ago is called a base effect. The large monthly fall in average UK house prices in April 2025 coincided with changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) in England and Northern Ireland on 1 April 2025.

Average house prices increased to £291,000 (3.9%) in England, £212,000 (3.5%) in Wales, and £192,000 (2.8%) in Scotland, in the 12 months to April 2026.

Meanwhile, average UK monthly private rent inflation continued to slow, increasing by 3.3%, to £1,383, in the 12 months to May 2026, down from 3.5% in the 12 months to April 2026.

Average rents increased to £1,442 (3.4%) in England, £836 (4.7%) in Wales, and £1,009 (1.0%) in Scotland, in the 12 months to May 2026.

In Northern Ireland, average rents increased to £876 (3.3%) in the 12 months to March 2026.

In England, private rent annual inflation was highest in the North East (5.9%), and lowest in London (2.0%), in the 12 months to May 2026.

Aimee North, Head of Housing Market Indices, ONS, commented: "Average UK house price annual inflation rose sharply in April. This month's rise in the annual rate was partly due to figures being compared with an unusually large fall in house prices a year earlier, following the stamp duty changes across much of the country in April 2025.

"All English regions saw an increase in their annual rates this month except London,
where the rate was unchanged. London remains the region with the lowest annual inflation. The rental market continues to cool, with UK rents inflation slowing to its lowest annual rate since March 2022. All UK countries saw a slowdown with Scotland seeing the biggest drop."

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5 responses from the Newspage community

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Tracey Dixon
Buy-to-Let Mortgage Specialist & Owner at Pure Mortgage and Protection
The headline figure of 3.8% annual house price growth looks strong, but much of the increase is due to comparisons with the sharp fall in prices seen after the April 2025 stamp duty changes.

While lower mortgage rates have helped improve confidence, affordability remains a challenge for many buyers. Higher house prices can quickly offset the benefit of lower borrowing costs, particularly for first-time buyers.

The slowdown in rental inflation is also notable. Rents are still rising, but at a much slower pace than we have seen in recent years, which may encourage landlords to focus more on long-term portfolio planning rather than relying on rental growth alone.

Overall, the market appears to be recovering steadily rather than booming, with affordability remaining the key factor.
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David Stirling
Independent Financial Adviser at Mint Wealth
What today's data really tells us is that the UK housing market remains deeply sensitive to political decisions made in Westminster. A single stamp duty deadline in April 2025 sent prices off a cliff. Now, twelve months on, we're all marvelling at this recovery that is really just the market climbing back out of the hole the Treasury dug for it. It's a bit like tripping over your own shoelace, getting back up, and announcing you've just completed a standing jump.
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Evren Ergin
Founder And Developer at ValuQ
The number is right. The story is not. Yes, the average is up 3.8% to £270,000, but the data itself shows most of that is a base effect: prices fell sharply last April after the stamp duty deadline, so this year flatters the comparison. Strip that out and a 0.7% monthly rise is a flat market, not a recovery.

The deeper problem is the word "average". Our analysis of three decades of Land Registry sales shows it hides almost everything that matters. Flats and houses move in opposite directions in the same town: flats fell in 22 of 24 towns we studied, down 17% in Manchester while houses rose. The North rises while London falls. And nearly half of England's homes have not sold since 2000, so the index tracks a thin slice of stock.

A single national figure tells no individual seller what their own home is worth. The only number that counts is what local agents will actually put their name to for your specific property.
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Patricia Ogunfeibo
Founder & non-practicing Solicitor at tenant2owner
The ‘perfect storm’ window for first time buyers to get bargains not otherwise seen for decades now seems to be closing. It was inevitable that prices would stabilise and then start to rise again once properties that landlords dumped onto the market had been mopped up.

Rents on the other hand won’t go down for any tenant where the market strongly supports a rent rise, or whose landlord doesn’t seek a rise. These are unyielding facts.

Savvy tenants have already made, or are already making a move. They are leveraging a soft market (now firming!), strong bargaining power, and essential knowledge to assess and ensure the deal is a very good one.
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Nouran Moustafa
Practice Principal & IFA at Roxton Wealth
The headline number looks big, but let’s not get carried away. A 3.8% annual rise sounds like the market has suddenly taken off, but a lot of this is the base effect from last year’s stamp duty distortion. In plain English, we are comparing today’s market with a weird month last year, so the annual figure looks hotter than the real movement.

That said, the market is not dead. Buyers are still there, confidence is slowly coming back, and limited supply continues to support prices. But this is not a boom. Affordability is still doing the heavy lifting, because mortgage payments remain painful and deposits are still a huge barrier.

The rent data matters too. Slower rent inflation does not mean rents are cheap; it just means they are becoming expensive at a slower speed.

So my view is simple: the housing market is stabilising, but it is not fixed. Prices are being held up by supply issues, while affordability is still stretched to the limit.