House price growth slowed to 1.8% in July, down from 2.2% in June, according to Nationwide’s latest house price index. Prices rose 0.1% month on month once seasonal factors were taken into account.
The building society’s data also shed light on how long UK households typically stay in their homes, and the extent to which people move within or between tenure types.
“UK annual house price growth edged down to 1.8% in July, from 2.2% the previous month,” said Robert Gardner, chief economist at Nationwide. “Prices remained broadly flat in month-on-month terms, after taking account of seasonal factors.
“Market activity and house prices have remained soft in recent months, in part reflecting the uncertain economic backdrop. Geopolitical tensions remain high, with the conflict between Iran and the US again exerting upward pressure on energy prices and market interest rates in recent weeks. Financial market expectations for the future path of Bank Rate have been volatile, reflecting shifting views about the inflationary implications of events at home and abroad.
“Despite the ongoing risks from the latest energy price shock, the Monetary Policy Committee can take some comfort from the fact that consumer price inflation declined further in June. Signs that wage growth has continued to ease give policymakers more breathing space to assess the extent to which tighter policy is necessary to ensure inflation returns to target.
“The latest data from the English Housing Survey reveals the average length of residence across all tenures has been broadly stable since 2010/11. The average time spent in a home is around 14 years, although this masks significant differences across tenure types.
“Those who own their home outright tend to have lived in their current home for much longer than other tenure types, at nearly 24 years on average. However, there is a significant skew in the data, with around a third of those owning outright living in the same property for 30 years or more.
“Those in the private rented sector tend to have the shortest time in a property. There is also a heavy skew, although opposite to those owning outright, with around half of those in the private rented sector being resident in their current property for two years or less.
“There has been a small increase in the average residence in the private rented sector over the last decade, while those owning with a mortgage have seen a small decline. The latter may be partly due to homeowners with a mortgage moving more frequently, although compositional changes may also be playing a role, for example, as the population ages and more people transition into owning outright.
“Around a quarter of those owning a home with a mortgage had been in their current home for two years or less, suggesting higher first-time buyer activity in recent years may also be a factor.
Churn within and between tenure types
“As well as considering how long households stay in a given property, it’s also interesting to consider the current pattern of activity and how much churn in the housing market occurred within and between tenure types.
“The data for households who moved in 2024/25, the most recent data available, indicates that moves within tenure types dominate. Indeed, around three quarters of all moves were within the same tenure type and a quarter between tenure types.
“Those moving within the private rented sector accounted for the largest share of overall activity, with 640,000 moves within the sector, nearly twice as high as the number moving within the owner-occupier sector.
“The moves between tenure types are still significant. For example, nearly 200,000 households previously in the private rented sector became owner-occupiers in 2024/25. But there is also a return flow, with around 100,000 households moving into private rented properties having previously been owner-occupiers.”
Industry reaction
“Steady house prices reflect a housing market that continues to find balance despite ongoing economic and political change,” said Nathan Emerson, chief executive at Propertymark.
“A combination of constrained housing supply, changing borrowing costs and varying levels of buyer demand continues to influence market conditions, while the national figures mask significant regional variation across the UK.
“Yesterday’s interest rate decision, with rates remaining unchanged, provides greater certainty for borrowers and allows prospective buyers to plan with a clearer understanding of future mortgage costs.
“The next priority should be greater policy certainty. As the new prime minister develops his housing agenda, clarity around taxation, housing supply and long-term reforms will help reinforce confidence across the market. Stability in policy is every bit as important as stability in interest rates.”
Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, said, “A combination of higher mortgage costs and uncertainty around property taxation has kept demand in check this summer.
“The slowdown is presumably why Andy Burnham needed to rule out replacing stamp duty with a land value tax this week, although the annual game of ‘guess the tax rise’ is not over for the property market after the Prime Minister repeated his predecessor’s line about ‘difficult decisions’ in the Budget.
“Mortgage rates are almost as high as they have been since the start of the Middle East conflict, but while the Bank of England turned more hawkish this week, holding rates still appears the most likely approach during the second half of this year.”
