UK house prices rise 6.4% in year to March, says ONS

The average house price in the UK rose 6.4% in the year to March, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.

The increase took the average price to £271,000, which is £16,000 higher than a year earlier.

This annual rise was higher than the 5.5% increase recorded in the 12 months to February.

Despite the increase in the growth rate, Tony Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, said the pressure on house prices was downwards after “stripping out the impact of the stamp duty deadline”.

Stamp Duty Land Tax rules changed in England and Northern Ireland on 1 April 2025 for higher valued properties, leading to an increased volume of sales.

The ONS’ report said stamp duty changes were “likely to have increased volumes and prices in areas where average prices are lower”, for example the North East, which was the region with the highest price inflation rate in the period.

Bill said that stubborn inflation, which hit a 15-month high of 3.5% according to figures published this morning, would “prevent mortgage rates from falling as quickly as hoped, and buyers are hesitant due to growing household financial pressures and wider economic concerns”. 

“On top of that, asking prices will need to reflect the fact that supply currently far outweighs demand,” he said. 

“Demand is likely to get stronger later this year as more interest rate cuts move onto the radar for the Bank of England.”

Rachel Geddes, strategic lender relationship director at Mortgage Advice Bureau, said that a growing number of lenders were “using innovation to support homeownership” and that the emergence of sub-4% interest rates was providing more opportunities for buyers.

Northern Ireland experienced the highest house price inflation, which rose 9.5% from Q1 2024 to Q1 2025.

In the rest of the UK, average prices rose 6.7% in England over the year, 4.6% in Scotland and 3.6% in Wales.

Average monthly private rents increased 7.4% to £1,335 in the 12 months to April 2025, marking a slight decline in the annual growth rate from 7.7% in the year to March 2025.

It was well below the record-high annual rise of 9.1% recorded in March 2024.