Homes in the London Borough of Greenwich recorded the highest leap in value during 2014, says Halifax, the UK’s biggest mortgage lender.
The London borough is at the top of the Halifax’s list of rising house prices in cities and towns throughout the UK. The average house value in Greenwich rose from £263,183 at the end of 2013, to £328,044 at the end of November 2014, an increase of 24.6 per cent, close to three times as much as the national average of 8.5 per cent.
Halifax compiled its list from data regarding the number of mortgages it has approved during 2014. Unsurprisingly, the top of the list is dominated by London boroughs, with all but one of the top ten being in the capital. Ealing saw the second biggest rise, recording price increases of 24.5 per cent. The average house value there is now £365,859.
Prices increased in a number of other London boroughs by more than one fifth, including Sutton and Tower Hamlets. The only town in the top ten that is not in London, is Crawley in Sussex, where prices rose by 22.4 per cent according to Halifax. The town has excellent commuter links to London and a lower average house price of £267,925.
In the capital as a whole, house values rose by £43,935, thirteen per cent over all, despite estate agents reporting a slowdown in housing market activity towards the end of the year.
In stark opposition to the increased affluence of London and the south east, house values fell in many areas in the north of England, Scotland and Wales. The biggest slump was in Bury, Greater Manchester, where prices fell by 4.8 per cent, £7,000. House values in Keighley in West Yorkshire also fell, dropping by 4.4 per cent. Other areas recording a drop were Nuneaton and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands and Newport in Wales.
