Property prices increase

House prices saw the biggest annual increase for six years in 2020 as the market was boosted by tax breaks and a change in buyer demand amid the pandemic, according to new figures.

Nationwide Building Society said the average UK house price jumped by 7.3% last year to £230,920 – £137,531 in the North.

The report revealed prices have jumped 5.3% since March, when the pandemics truck, after demand was sent surging by a stamp duty holiday and the shift to homeworking.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said: "The resilience seen in recent quarters seemed unlikely at the start of the pandemic.

"Housing market activity almost ground to a halt during the lockdown as the wider economy shrank by an unprecedented 26%.”