The Average UK House Price Now Stands At £250,000

According to official figures, the average price for a house in the UK is now a record high of £250,000. This surprising leap is despite the recent economic recession that we are still apparently feeling the effects of.

2008 high exceeded

In 2008, house property prices reached an all-time high and it’s only this recent spike that has managed to overtake that record, some 6 years later.  Some of the reasons for this resurgence are down to the very low interest rates that buyers and sellers are taking advantage of. It is thought that when the rates start to climb, as they inevitable will do, there will be an awful lot of new homeowners who will find it nigh impossible to make their mortgage repayments, Deja-vu indeed.

Regional variations

So what kind of property will £250,000 pounds buy you now in the UK? As expected, the regional variations offer a pretty large disparity regarding the typical house you can get for that small fortune. In North Yorkshire you can purchase a very nice 3 bedroom cottage and Glasgow is even more attractive with a 4 bedroom detached house on the cards. However, the further South that you go, the smaller the bang you will get for your British buck.

Stamp Duty

The current stamp duty threshold is currently a measly 1% on properties that fall between £125,000 and £250,000. So houses that are now in the upper bracket are attracting an unwelcome £7,500 bill thanks to the seller’s market that we now find ourselves in. It is a little more fiddly in fact because a house that sells for £249,000 will involve a stamp duty fee of exactly £2,490 whereas the slightly pricier one that less for £251,000 will be a staggering £7,520!

Help to Buy

Another reason for the boost in house prices can be accredited to the government Help to Buy scheme. This allows would-be owners with a 5% deposit, the possibility to get one foot on the UK housing ladder by way of a shared equity loan and an equally attractive mortgage guarantee to boot.

FLS

The Funding for Lending Scheme that offered loans to banks and building societies at reduced rates, and it has also helped matters by driving down interest rates on loans and mortgages across the board. These have now been directed towards small business lending and the overall feel is that we are on the cusp of a house price bubble.

More Stamp Duty issues
Before David Cameron came into power in 2007, he promised to abolish the dreaded Stamp Duty for first time buyers. Sadly this hasn’t been the case and thresholds are pretty identical to when he first came into power. Perhaps David didn’t foresee that the average UK house would hit that £250,000 milestone quite so soon after the last housing collapse. This form of stealth taxation seriously needs to be readdressed and Lucian Cook, of Savills estate agency, noted that this factor is presenting yet another barrier that prevents first time buyers from having the chance to join the UK property ladder for the foreseeable future. 

Author Bio:

Rob Steen is a freelance copywriter specialising in property. He sometimes writes for  the ADM residential website, see their website here.