the outskirts of England, including the north-east and the south-west, reflecting the rise in demand for rural living. However, now as the economy begins to return to normalcy, the race for space appears to be fading, according to a top mortgage lender in the country.
The latest snapshot of the UK’s housing market published by Halifax showed that the growth in prices of flats were surpassing that of detached houses, which were highly in demand during lockdowns. The financial service provider said the average price of a flat it had agreed a home loan on stood at £118,771 in November, a 10.8 per cent increase from a year ago. Meanwhile, the average price of a detached house reported an annual growth of 6.6 per cent to £517,650 last month.
This was owing to the fact that COVID-19 triggered a boom in sales of larger properties, with a significant number of borrowers demanding for homes with spare rooms, studies and gardens as they were forced to work from home amid the pandemic. On the other hand, buyer of such properties had most to gain from the stamp duty holidays, since they could save £15,000 in duty if the property valued at over £500,000. Now, with the tax break being withdrawn and some city centres reopening offices, demand has tipped towards flats.
“A shift in demand from bigger houses to flats has emerged as more of society has opened up again and people have assessed where they will work throughout the week, with many now considering a move closer to a city than further out,” Tim Bannister, a property data expert from Rightmove, said. “Prospective buyers looking for a flat, with a must-have for many of them now being a shared garden or balcony, will find there’s more availability than other property types and lower average asking price growth over the last year, but there’s now more competition.”
