Property up £14k in a year

HOUSE prices shot up by £14,000 on average last year as the UK’s property market boomed after the Brexit vote.

Values had soared by November compared with the same month in 2015, with the cost of a typical three-bedroom semi now £218,000, according to official figures.

And mortgage lending also rose last year as the market remained “resilient” after the vote to leave the European Union.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics showed that average house prices in November stood at £234,000 in England, £147,000 in Wales, £143,000 in Scotland and £124,000 in Northern Ireland.

Andrew Montlake, of Coreco mortgage brokers, said: “The average first-time buyer property is still in high demand and short supply, leading to increasing house prices.”

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) also revealed that homeowners borrowed £11billion for house purchases in November, up five per cent month-on-month and two per cent annually.

Paul Smee, director general of the CML, said: “November lending reflected stable market conditions. Lending remained resilient through political change and aspirations for home ownership remain strong.”