National statistics

UK House Price Index summary: April 2020

Published 19 August 2020

1. Headline statistics for April 2020

The average price of a property in the UK was £234,612

The annual price change for a property in the UK was 2.6%

The monthly price change for a property in the UK was -0.2%

The monthly index figure (January 2015 = 100) for the UK was 123.0

Estimates for the most recent months are provisional and are likely to be updated as more data is incorporated into the index. Read Revisions to the UK HPI data.

Next publication of UK HPI

The May 2020 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 2 September 2020. See the provisional publication schedule for more information.

2. Economic statement

The UK HPI is based on completed housing transactions. Typically, a house purchase can take 6 to 8 weeks to reach completion. Therefore, the price data feeding into the April 2020 UK HPI will reflect those agreements that occurred before the government measures to reduce the spread of coronavirus took hold.

UK house prices increased by 2.6% in the year to April 2020, down from 3.5% in March 2020. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK decreased by 0.2% between March 2020 and April 2020, compared with a rise of 0.7% during the same period a year earlier (March 2019 and April 2019).

House price growth was strongest in Wales where prices increased by 5.0% over the year to April 2020. The highest annual growth within the English regions was in the East Midlands where average house prices grew by 4.7%. The lowest, and only negative, annual growth was in the North East, where prices decreased by 2.3% over the year to April 2020.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) April 2020 UK Residential Market Survey reported that housing market activity continued to be stifled by the coronavirus lockdown measures and the subdued set of conditions are set to persist for the next three months.

The Bank of England’s Agents’ summary of business conditions - 2020 Q1 reported that the housing market sentiment had seen a marked deterioration, due to the economic uncertainty as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The UK Property Transactions Statistics for April 2020 showed that on a seasonally adjusted basis, the estimated number of transactions of residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater was 41,960. This is 56.9% lower than a year ago. Between March 2020 and April 2020, transactions decreased by 55.5%.

The Bank of England’s Money and Credit April 2020 release reported that mortgage approvals for house purchases (an indicator of future lending) fell to 15,800, around 80% below levels seen in February 2020.

3. Price changes

3.1 Annual price change

Annual price change for UK by country over the past 5 years

A chart showing the annual price change for the UK by country over the past 5 years.

Average house prices in the UK increased by 2.6% in the year to April 2020, down from 3.5% in March 2020.

At the country level, the largest annual house price growth was recorded in Wales, increasing by 5.0% over the year to April 2020.

Northern Ireland saw house prices increase by 3.8% over the year to Quarter 1 (January to March) 2020.

England house prices increased by 2.5% in the year to April 2020.

Scotland saw house prices increase by 1.6% in the year to April 2020.

3.2 Average price by country and government office region

Price, monthly change and annual change by country and government office region

Country and government office region Price Monthly change Annual change
England £250,874 -0.3% 2.5%
Northern Ireland (Quarter 1 - 2020) £140,580 0.2% 3.8%
Scotland £153,281 0.4% 1.6%
Wales £169,489 0.6% 5.0%
East Midlands £200,513 1.1% 4.7%
East of England £295,640 1.5% 2.7%
London £480,425 -1.6% 2.3%
North East £125,938 -2.4% -2.3%
North West £167,809 -0.2% 3.4%
South East £327,413 0.2% 2.7%
South West £255,891 -2.5% 1.2%
West Midlands £202,093 0.4% 3.4%
Yorkshire and The Humber £165,561 -0.1% 2.3%

Price changes by country and government office region

The heat map is unavailable due to the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic on operational services.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK decreased by 0.2% between March 2020 and April 2020, compared with a rise of 0.7% during the same period a year earlier (March 2019 and April 2019). On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK decreased by 0.9% between March 2020 and April 2020.

Note: The Northern Ireland figure represents a 3-month change and is not comparable with the other regions and countries.

3.3 Average price by property type

Average monthly price by property type

Property type April 2020 April 2019 Difference
Detached £359,173 £346,829 3.6%
Semi-detached £223,257 £217,063 2.9%
Terraced £192,371 £185,385 3.8%
Flat or maisonette £200,585 £202,435 -0.9%
All £234,612 £228,749 2.6%

4. Sales volumes

The amount of time between the sale of a property and the registration of this information varies. It typically ranges between 2 weeks and 2 months but can be longer. Volume figures for the most recent 2 months are not yet at a reliable level for reporting, so they are not included in the report. Published transactions for recent months will increase as later registered transactions are incorporated into the index.

Sales volume data is also available by property status (new build and existing property) and funding status (cash and mortgage) in our downloadable data tables. Transactions involving the creation of a new register, such as new builds, are more complex and require more time to process. Read Revisions to the UK HPI data for more information.

4.1 Sales volumes

Number of sales volumes by country

Country February 2020 February 2019
England 49,194 57,330
Northern Ireland (Quarter 1 - 2020) 4,746 5,177
Scotland 5,736 4,502
Wales 2,863 3,207

Note: The estimate for February 2020 is calculated based on around 85% of the final registered transactions. The number of property transactions for February 2020 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for February 2019 with the provisional estimate for February 2020, volume transactions increased by 6.5% in Scotland and increased by 11.1% in Northern Ireland. Due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of transactions for February 2020 are not directly comparable to the provisional estimate of the number of transactions for February 2019 in England and Wales.

UK Property Transaction Statistics published by HM Revenue & Customs (which differ in coverage but are more complete for this period) report that on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, volume transactions increased by 1.2% in England, Scotland increased by 7.6% and Wales increased by 1.8% in the year to February 2020.

4.2 Sales volumes for the UK over the past 5 years

Sales volumes for 2016 to 2020 by country: February

A chart showing sales volumes by country for February 2016, February 2018, February 2018, February 2019 and February 2020.

Note: The estimate for February 2020 is calculated based on around 85% of the final registered transactions. The number of property transactions for February 2020 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.

Due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of transactions for February 2020 are not directly comparable to the provisional estimate of the number of transactions for February 2019 in England and Wales. UK Property Transaction Statistics published by HM Revenue & Customs (which differ in coverage but are more complete for this period) report that on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, UK volume transactions increased by 1.5% in the year to February 2020.

5. Property status for UK

Transactions involving the creation of a new register, such as new builds, are more complex and need more time to process. This means they can take longer to appear in the land registers. The volume of new build transactions for the most recent 2 months are not at a reliable level for reporting the breakdown between new build and existing resold property, so they are not included in the report.

New build and existing resold property

Property status Average price February 2020 Monthly change Annual change
New build £296,215 -2.0% 2.4%
Existing resold property £227,614 -0.2% 1.9%

Note: Since the October 2017 release, amendments have been made to our estimation model when calculating our provisional estimate. Find out further information and the impact of this change in the methods used to produce the UK HPI.

6. Buyer status for Great Britain

First time buyer and former owner occupier

Type of buyer Average price April 2020 Monthly change Annual change
First time buyer £197,459 -0.1% 2.4%
Former owner occupier £271,952 -0.2% 2.7%

7. Funding status for Great Britain

Cash and mortgage

For Great Britain only, Northern Ireland data is not available for funding status.

Funding status Average price April 2020 Monthly change Annual change
Cash £221,813 -0.5% 1.9%
Mortgage £245,037 0.0% 2.8%

8. Access the data

Download the data as CSV files or access it with our UK HPI tool.

Data revisions

View any revisions to previously published data in the data downloads or find out more about revisions in our guidance About the UK HPI.

9. About the UK House Price Index

The UK House Price Index (UK HPI) is calculated by the Office for National Statistics and Land & Property Services Northern Ireland. Find out about the methodology used to create the UK HPI.

Data for the UK House Price Index is provided by HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, The Land & Property Services/Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency and the Valuation Office Agency.

A processing error has occurred when calculating the total sales volumes for Scotland in February 2019. The correct total sales volumes for Scotland in February 2019 is 5,493. This will be corrected in the next publication. The sales volumes for the local authorities are unaffected.

Find out more about the UK House Price Index.

10. Contact

Eileen Morrison, Data Services Team Leader, HM Land Registry

Email eileen.morrison@landregistry.gov.uk

Telephone 0300 006 5288

Aimee North, Head of Housing Market Indices, Office for National Statistics

Email aimee.north@ons.gov.uk

Telephone 01633 456400

Ciara Cunningham, Statistician for the Northern Ireland HPI

Email ciara.cunningham@finance-ni.gov.uk

Telephone 028 90 336035

Anne MacDonald, Land & Property Data Team, Registers of Scotland

Email Anne.MacDonald@ros.gov.uk

Telephone 0131 378 4991