House prices rise most in six years

BRITISH house prices rose by the most in nearly six years in November, mortgage lender Nationwide said last Tuesday (1), as a boom in the housing market accelerates while the broader economy struggles with the coronavirus pandemic.

In annual terms, prices rose by 6.5 per cent, Nationwide said.

Prices rose by 0.9 per cent from October. Britain’s housing market has bounced back strongly from the Covid-19 shock in recent months, propelled by demand for bigger properties and chancellor Rishi Sunak’s emergency tax cut for buyers.

Bank of England data last Monday (31) showed mortgage approvals were at their highest in more than 13 years.

Nationwide’s chief economist, Robert Gardner, said the outlook remained highly uncertain against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic.