UK house prices fall while rents rise by least in 4 years, surveys show

LONDON (Reuters) -Asking prices for homes put up for sale in Britain this month showed an annual decline for the first time since January 2024 while average rents increased at the lowest annual rate in four years, two industry surveys showed on Monday.

Prices for property put on sale during Rightmove's September period - which runs from August 10 to September 6 - were 0.1% lower than for property marketed a year earlier.

Although there was a 0.4% rise in asking prices compared with a month earlier, this was a smaller rise than normal for the time of year and followed falls in the previous three months.

Other measures of Britain's property sector have also shown a slowdown in house price growth and demand.

"Rumours of property tax changes began swirling in mid August, and with the Budget itself not arriving until the end of November, this kind of extended uncertainty can affect market activity, especially in the higher price brackets," Colleen Babcock, a property expert at Rightmove, said.

Rightmove said the year-on-year decline in house prices was driven by homes in southern England, which are typically more expensive and vulnerable to increased property taxes, and that lower prices had boosted sales.

Reeves is expected to raise taxes when she delivers her annual budget on November 26 but it is unclear where the main burden will fall.

A separate survey from Zoopla showed average rental prices were 2.4% higher in the four weeks to September 2 than a year ago, the lowest annual rate in four years, with average monthly rents now standing at 1,300 pounds ($1,761).

Zoopla said while affordability remained a concern, the number of homes to rent on the market increased. Still, it expects average rents to increase by 3% by the end of the year.

"Lower migration and better mortgage availability for first time buyers are easing the scale of the competition for rented homes," Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, said.

Official figures last week showed the economy failed to grow in July after expanding by 0.4% in June.

The Bank of England is expected to keep interest rates steady at 4% on September 18, and financial markets were on Friday pricing in the next quarter-point rate cut in spring 2026.

($1 = 0.7381 pounds)

(Reporting by Suban Abdulla; editing by David Milliken)