UK house prices climb £8k in July

UK house prices rose by £8,000 on average as property prices across the country climbed 2.8% in the 12 months to July.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showed that the average house price in July was £270,000 across the UK, an increase of £8,000 in 12 months.

Average house prices increased by £8,000 to £292,000 (2.7%) in England, by £4,000 to £209,000 (2%) in Wales, and by £6,000 to £192,000 (3.3%) in Scotland.

The average house price in Northern Ireland rose by £10,000 to £185,000 in the second quarter of 2025, up by 5.5% annually and the most significant increase of any nation.

The North East was the English region with the highest house price inflation, at 7.9%, in the 12 months to July 2025, up from 7.7% in the 12 months to June 2025.

Annual house price inflation was lowest in London at 0.7%, in the 12 months to July 2025.Across the UK, the average house price in July was £270,000.·Patrick Donovan via Getty Images

Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, said: “Rents and house prices are slowing across the UK as housing demand cools and affordability pressures bite on what people can pay for rent and mortgages."

“This has big implications for home building, where weaker demand is holding back investment in growing supply.”

The ONS also said the average private rent in the UK was £1,348 per month in August, 5.7%, or £73 higher than 12 months earlier. The rise slowed from a 5.9% increase recorded in the 12 months to July.

The average rent in England was £1,403 in August, up 5.8% (£76) from a year earlier. The figures showed that this annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to July 2025 (6%), marking the ninth month of slowing yearly inflation.

In Wales, the average rent in August was £811, up 7.8% (£59) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to July (7.9%).

Read more: UK inflation held steady at 3.8% in August

The average rent in Scotland was £1,002 in August, up 3.5% (£34) from the previous year. The average rent in Northern Ireland was £860 in June 2025, up 7.2% (£58) from a year earlier.

In August, the average rent was highest in London (£2,253) and lowest in the North East (£745).

Looking deeper, the average rent was highest in Kensington and Chelsea, London (£3,614) and lowest in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland (£523). Excluding London, the local area with the highest average rent in August 2025 was Oxford, South East (£1,897).

Jeremy Leaf, a north London estate agent, said: “Over the past few weeks, buyers and sellers have become more cautious, not helped by continuing high inflation and mortgage rates not falling as quickly as anticipated, until some clear direction is received from government as to budget policy."

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“We may not know until the end of November so until then nervousness is likely to prevail with buyers, particularly those not dependent on the sale of another property or requiring little or no finance, holding sway.”

The figures were released as separate data from the ONS, which showed that the inflation rate was stuck at a 19-month high during August, keeping pressure on households as the Bank of England is expected to keep interest rates unchanged on Thursday.

Read more: Average UK rent rises by £80 per week over five years

The average UK monthly private rent in August 2025 was highest for detached properties (£1,536) and lowest for flats and maisonettes (£1,321). Average UK private rent was highest for properties with four or more bedrooms (£2,010) and lowest for one bedroom (£1,094).

Ben Twomey, chief executive at Generation Rent, said: “Homes are the foundations of our lives, but rents continue to rise faster than our wages, swallowing more and more of our income.

“High rents push people into homelessness and trap them in temporary accommodation, they pull children into poverty and prevent people from saving for the future.”

Read more:

Bank of England set to hold interest rates Why lifelong housing costs are derailing retirement planning for older people Barclays hikes and Halifax cuts mortgage rates as low-deposit mortgage choice hits 17-year high

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