ONS UK House Price Index figures - comment from Proportunity

16 February 2022

Commenting on latest ONS UK House Price Index figures, Vadim Toader, chief executive and co-founder of shared equity loan provider Proportunity, said:

“The ONS figures will be of concern to those trying to get onto the property ladder, as they indicate house prices are still on the up, increasing by 10.8% over the year to December 2021, and up from 10.7% the previous month. The average UK house price in December 2021 was £275,000, meaning £27,000 higher than the previous year.

“This trend needs to be set in a broader context of inflation reaching a 30-year high of 5.5% in January from 5.4% in December. Rising cost of living is also impacting savings. Recent Bank of England data showed that UK households are now saving less cash in UK banks and are also spending savings accumulated during the pandemic.

“We are seeing a perfect storm developing. While borrowing costs are still relatively low, salaries are worth less, people are spending more and house prices are rising, which means homebuying is becoming more and more unreachable for first-time buyers.”