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Increasingly expensive: houses in Corbridge, Northumberland
Photo: Owen Humphreys / dpa
UK house prices rose more sharply at the end of 2021 than they have seen since July 2007.
In December there was a year-on-year increase of 9.8 percent, according to the monthly figures from mortgage lender Halifax.
Several factors have encouraged people in the UK to buy a new home, including greater demand for home office space, a lack of alternative consumption opportunities and a purchase tax break that expired at the end of September.
"A shortage of houses for sale and historically low mortgage rates have also helped fuel annual house price inflation," said Halifax managing director Russell Galley.
Prices are likely to rise much more slowly in 2022 than in the previous two years, he added.
This reflects the prospect of higher interest rates and the pressures on disposable income from increased general inflation.
Great Britain is not the only country among affluent economies that has seen a sharp rise in house prices during the corona crisis - despite the historic slump in economic output.
kig / Reuters
