Property in London has seen the lowest annual price rise since 2013, according to the latest Rightmove report.

The same data produced by the property portal shows an annual increase in house values of 13% in Wales and 11% across the north west of England. In Yorkshire and the Humber the increase is 10.5%. But the rest of England is also experiencing reasonably high increases. To the extent, prices are up £5,767 even within the past month from March to April.

London records lowest annual rise since 2013

In London the rise year-on-year is a mere 0.2%. For the rest of the country the price of the average property is up by 6.7% since the start of the pandemic back in March 2020. This brings the figure to £333,564.

Stamp Duty Holiday in full swing

Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Stamp Duty Holiday continues to have an impact on the market in England but the extension is due to end next month. After June 30 the tax-free break will fall to the first £250,000 of a property (rather than £500,000 at present). On October 1, rates will revert to the usual £125,000. First-time buyers though will not have to pay any Stamp Duty on the first £300,000 of a property from July 1.

In all, the government earns around £12bn every year in Stamp Duty, the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) figures show. It’s around 2% of the total tax collected by the Treasury. 

Hunt for green spaces goes on

Meanwhile, despite the smaller rise for London property, values there are still triple those of the standard home outside the capital.  The average property there is now priced at £640,373.

The poor rise in property values in London is believed to be spurred on by the pandemic with more people looking for greener spaces and larger properties from which to work from home.

Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property data said many buyers were squeezing their way into higher price bands. This is in part due to the Stamp Duty Holiday but also the ability to save and not spend during the lengthy lockdown periods.

He added: “There appears to be more headroom in buyers’ budgets among those looking to upsize. Family homes with three bedrooms or more are like gold dust in many areas of the country, especially in parts of the north.”

No let-up in property prices this year

Interestingly, Bannister doesn’t see the end of the Stamp Duty Holiday having a huge effect on the property market and, as a consequence, property prices. Instead he sees the rush continuing to the end of the year and perhaps even beyond into 2022.

At the beginning of the pandemic it was southern and coastal areas that were benefitting from the desire to move from flats in the cities. Now, Bannister says, it’s the more rural areas of the north that are in favour. This is backed up by local estate agents, many of whom are noticing a high number of people from the south bidding for properties in regions such as Yorkshire and Lancashire.