Annual house price growth slowed to 1.7% in October, according to the latest UK House Price Index from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This was down from the 2% that the ONS reported for the year to September, to leave the average price of a UK home at £270,000 in October.

Across the UK, average house prices increased in England to £292,000 (1.4%), in Wales to £211,000 (1.5%), and in Scotland to £192,000 (3.3%).

The average house price for Northern Ireland was £193,000 in the Q3 period from July to September, up 7.1% (£13,000) from Quarter 3 last year.

Director of specialist lender MT Finance, Tomer Aboody, commented: “With the Budget now over and done with, the uncertainty and hesitancy is also over and buyers are ready to make their move. Despite a lot of negative speculation beforehand, the Budget left the property market mostly unscathed.

“With sellers coming to the market and buyers potentially ready to pounce, as well as lower mortgage rates, the scene looks set for a bounce at the start of 2026.”

Ahead of the Bank of England’s base rate decision tomorrow, chief commercial officer at Atom bank, Chris Storey, added: “If rates do drop as expected, then we should expect to see further house price growth next year too, as the imbalance between supply and demand is not going anywhere in the short term.

“The challenge is for lenders to recognise the areas in the market where borrowers need the most support and deliver the products and criteria which make home ownership achievable and affordable.

“Whether that’s borrowers with small deposits, the self-employed, or those with imperfect credit, the lending market must ensure we don’t end up in a situation where subsets of borrowers find it unnecessarily difficult to access mortgages.”

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