UK house prices hit highest ever level
20/04/2015
Research from property website Rightmove has shown that house prices for homes in England have hit an all time high. This is due to a fall in the number of properties in the market and a surge in the number of people looking to buy a home.
House prices have hit an all time high of £286,000, rising by 1.6%, suggesting that house price growth in the UK is picking up again after slowing last year when regulators introduced tougher mortgage rules. The number of new homes on the market has fallen by 4% from this time last April, which contrasts with increased demand. Visits to Rightmove's website rose by almost 20% to an all-time high in March.
As the UK general election draws close, the UK’s housing crisis becomes a key election theme. The Conservative Party leader Prime Minister David Cameron announced plans last week to allow more people living in social housing to purchase their homes at a discount, and the Labour Party has said it plans to increase new home-building to 200,000 homes a year, up from about 110,000 in 2013.
Miles Shipside, a director at Rightmove, said:
“Record high housing demand and an under supply of homes have delivered a new all time high in the price of property coming to the market in the month before the election.
“The high cost of housing is a big concern for many home hunters, so the contents of the respected parties manifestos and well thought out sustainable solutions to the lack of affordable housing supply will be high on many voters agendas.”
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