Buyers paid record high in June for new homes

HOUSE prices soared to new heights in June as buyers scrambled for a final chance to capitalise on the stamp duty holiday, figures show.

The tax break period was originally meant to end on March 31, but the Chancellor pushed it back to June 30.

House prices rose by 13.2 per cent over the year to June, faster than at any point since November 2004, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports.

The average UK house price was a record £266,000 that month, up from £255,000 in May.

For the seventh month running London was the region with the lowest annual growth, at just 6.3 per cent.

But in Scotland prices still rose to a record high in June despite the break ending there in March, suggesting another root cause of the price spike.

George Franks, co-founder of estate agents Radstock Property, said: “The exceptional price growth in Scotland highlights how property transactions have been driven more by lifestyle changes than stamp duty savings.”