Official figures show a clear North-South divide in UK house prices, with London property values falling 1.9% in the year to March while Yorkshire and Humberside recorded a 3.6% rise. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Scotland also saw a 3.3% increase over the same period.
The average UK house price stood at £227,000 in March, up 1.4% compared with a year earlier. However, the ONS data revealed variations across the country, including a drop in the North East of England. London remains the most expensive region, with an average price of £463,000, but some of the capital's most expensive areas have seen the largest falls.
Rents paid by tenants to private landlords in the UK rose by 1.2% in the year to April, the ONS said. Commentators suggested Brexit uncertainty has particularly affected London, with some buyers postponing major purchases.
Lucy Pendleton, founder director of estate agents James Pendleton, said: "London is also not the blueprint for the whole country, as a very different story is being told everywhere else. A hot property market in the Midlands and North West is propping up the UK's overall picture and this, together with declines that have so far not been dramatic in London, show property is still the relatively safe long-term investment it has always proved to be."
Tomer Aboody, director of property lender MT Finance, said high-end properties in the £2m to £8m bracket were 20% to 30% cheaper than their 2015-16 peak. "Elsewhere, growth in property prices in the Midlands and north of the country shows confidence in projects like HS2, which will one day get off the ground. The North-South divide is narrowing with increased ability to travel between the regions for work and it means that it may be possible to live in cheaper parts of the country."
