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GB: Lloyds House Price Index
| Actual | Previous | Revised | |
| Month over Month | 0.0% | -0.2% | -0.3% |
| Year over Year | 0.0% | -0.4% |
Highlights
UK house prices held steady in September 2026, suggesting resilience amid higher mortgage rates, but offering little evidence of renewed momentum. The average property price reached £298,441, with both monthly and annual growth at 0.0 percent, following August’s 0.3 percent revised monthly decline.
This stability conceals a divided market. Northern Ireland’s 7.4 percent annual growth contrasts sharply with declines in London (minus 2.2 percent) and the South East (minus 2.1 percent). Stronger performance in northern England is consistent with demand favouring relatively affordable locations, while higher property values intensify borrowing constraints in southern regions.
First-time buyer prices remained broadly unchanged at £236,779, although deposit requirements continue to restrict access. The announced ‘Your First Home’ scheme and low-deposit mortgages could support entry, but their impact will depend on eligibility, implementation and housing availability.
Buyer enquiries reaching their highest level since February suggest underlying demand remains active. Nevertheless, enquiries may not translate into completed purchases if financing costs remain restrictive. Near-term prospects therefore depend on consumer confidence and mortgage affordability, with modest price movements more plausible than a broad-based acceleration.
Definition
The Halifax House Price Index (HPI) is the UK's longest running monthly house price measure with data covering the whole country going back to January 1983. The index is based on the largest monthly sample of mortgage data, typically covering around 15,000 house purchases per month, and covers the whole calendar month. In March 2016 Markit announced that it would be acquiring the Halifax HPI from Lloyds Banking Group. Halifax continues to publish the index on behalf of Markit and both the name and the basic methodology remain unchanged. However, in May 2020, the annual growth measure was changed from the average of the last three months to just the latest month.
Description
Home values affect much in the economy - especially the housing and consumer sectors. Periods of rising home values encourage new construction while periods of soft home prices can damp housing starts. Changes in home values play key roles in consumer spending and in consumer financial health. During the first half of this decade sharply rising home prices boosted how much home equity households held. In turn, this increased consumers' ability to spend, based on wealth effects and from being able to draw upon expanding home equity lines of credit.