Brexit puts brake on house prices London sees biggest fall

THE price of the average UK home has dropped by nearly £1,000 a month since last summer.

Experts say Brexit uncertainties have fuelled the slowdown.

Figures out yesterday from the Office for National Statistics showed the average UK home rose 0.6% in value in the year to February, to £226,234, down sharply from January’s 1.7% figure.

But prices have fallen from a peak of £232,046 in August last year.

The go-slow is almost entirely due to big falls in London and the South East, which for years has witnessed soaring prices and fuelled a Northsouth divide.

The average London home fell 3.8% in the year to February, although at £459,800 it is still double the national average.

Elsewhere, prices are mostly still rising, led by a 4.1% annual jump in the West Midlands, and 4% in the North West. Prices in Scotland fell 0.2% in the year to February, from 2.4% in January, with the average home now costing £146,000. In Wales, property prices rose 4.1% in the year to February, with the average house now being valued at £160,000. Northern Ireland house prices jumped 5.5%, although it remains the cheapest country in the UK to purchase a property in with the average house coming in at £137,000. Nick Leeming, the chairman of estate agency Jackson-stops, said the latest figures “suggest the background drone of Brexit is inevitably taking its toll on some pockets of the property market.” Jonathan Hopper, managing director of Garrington Property Finders, said: “At a national level, it is no longer a question of speed bumps and a gradual slowdown – the market is instead stuck in neutral with the handbrake on.”

the top source of moans, with 6,782 recorded from October to December last year. It comes as the energy sector prepares for the introduction of an automatic switching compensation scheme on May 1 which will entitle consumers to receive at least £30 for each switching problem they suffer. The co-founder of fashion firm ASOS pocketed more than £15million through a share sale. Nick Robertson, left, now one of its non-executive directors, offloaded 410,000 of his shares in the online retailer. The 51-year-old still has a 5.53% stake worth £177m .

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