As house prices rise, now is the time for serious reform of the property market

A government that has shown how effective it can be in supporting house prices must now match that with policies to deliver a sustainable market, writes Phil Thornton

Annual house price growth hit 10 per cent in November, according to Nationwide Building Society (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Archive)

And the beat goes on: another year and another strong 12 months of growth in UK house prices. Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy, employment and people’s wellbeing, the residential property market has continued to post inflation-busting rises in values.

According to Nationwide building society, the average price of a home was 10 per cent higher in November than a year earlier. Measured on a rolling three-month basis, the 3.4 per cent rise recorded by Halifax bank in the same month was the strongest for 15 years.

Economic crises usually trigger sharp falls in prices as homeowners struggle to meet their interest payments, as older readers will remember from the 2008 global financial crisis and the bursting of the late 1980s property bubble. This time the opposite happened in the wake of coronavirus with prices rising 7.3 per cent in 2020 and accelerating this year.