London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Jul 22, 2025

Britain's booming property market adds £20,000 to homes in a year

Britain's booming property market adds £20,000 to homes in a year

Average house price hits record high of £258,204 in April, 12 months after Covid closed the market
The average British house price reached a record high of £258,204 ($363,198) in April, as the stamp duty holiday fires up the booming market with almost £20,000 added to the value of a home since the market was closed by Covid-19 a year ago.

House prices in April were up 1.4 per cent from March and 8.2 per cent higher than a year earlier, according to the Halifax House Price Index on Monday, the highest annual growth rate in five years.

“House prices in April eclipsed the record high set the month before as the market continued to maintain its recent momentum,” said Russel Galley, managing director of Halifax.

“The stamp duty holiday continues to add impetus to an extremely active market, magnifying the current shortage of available homes as buyers aim to take advantage of the government scheme.”

Britain's housing market soared last year after the first Covid-19 lockdown brought the market to a standstill, creating pent-up demand, and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak's stamp duty break, unveiled in July, boosted activity even more.

The tax break, initially due to expire at the end of March, was extended by Mr Sunak in his March budget, with the first £500,000 of any property purchase in England or Northern Ireland remaining exempt from the levy. There will also be a £250,000 tax-free allowance until the end of September.

Home sales increased to their highest ever level in March, according to government property transaction data, up 3.2 per cent from February with 190,980 deals. Meanwhile, mortgage lending rose by £11.8 billion in March - the strongest net increase since records began in 1993.

While Mr Galley expects the influence of the stamp duty holiday to fade gradually in the coming months as it is tapered out, low interest rates and continued demand will continue to underpin prices in the market.

“We expect recent levels of activity to be sustained over the short term as buyers continue to search for homes with more space and potentially better suited for their new working patterns,” Mr Galley said.

“Savings built up over the months in lockdown have given some buyers even more cash to invest in their dream properties, while the new mortgage guarantee scheme may have eased deposit constraints for some prospective homebuyers who previously thought their first step on the housing ladder was a few years away.”

Looking ahead, Mr Galley remains cautious about the market’s medium-term prospects despite growing optimism about the UK economy thanks to the success of the vaccination programme.

The Bank of England said on Thursday it expects the UK economy to enjoy its strongest peacetime growth in 2021, with output set to expand 7.25 per cent.

“The current levels of uncertainty and potential for higher unemployment as furlough support ends lead us to believe that house price growth will slow to the end of the year,” Mr Galley said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×