As structural warranty specialists, the team at Advantage spend their days helping home owners, leading developers and social housing specialists to ensure that they have the right latent defects cover in place. So we’ve seen first-hand how busy the UK housing market has been this autumn.

This week, Nationwide reported that UK house prices are 6.5% higher than a year ago, representing the sharpest rise for nearly six years. The acceleration came as the housing market remained “robust” despite the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the lender said.

The BBC shared Nationwide’s data, revealing that house prices were 0.9% higher in November than in October, with the average property valued at £229,721. However, the lender added that property price growth was expected to slow.

Home owners pay a premium for green spaces

The Guardian also shared the latest figures from Nationwide, focusing on how where we want to live has shifted in 2020. The publisher stated that: Research by the lender indicates that nearly 30% of people considering a move were doing so because they wanted a garden or to be near parks and other outdoor space in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, and 25% were looking to get away from the hustle and bustle of urban life.

A property located within a national park attracts a 20% premium over an otherwise identical property, making it £45,000 more expensive. This is up from the 19% premium recorded last year and Nationwide said that the full effect of the pandemic had not been fully captured. Properties within 3.1 miles (5km) of a national park are also more expensive, and command a 6% premium.

Of course, the attraction of a spacious garden or nearby park is nothing new; last year, Advantage wrote about the ONS statistics showing that a nearby green space could add £2,500 to a property price. However, the premium that buyers are willing to pay for a nearby green space has increased this year.

House price predictions for 2021

Andrew Wishart, a property economist at the consultancy Capital Economics, who was quoted by the Guardian, is forecasting a 5% drop in house prices next year – but not a house price crash. This would leave prices slightly higher at the end of 2021 than they started 2020.

“With a vaccine likely to be rolled out in the first half of 2021 we think that the economy and employment will recover quickly preventing a prolonged fall in prices,” he said.

Related read: Back in September, we wrote about how UK house prices had hit a record high as buyers sought extra room.

Advantage Home Construction Insurance is a leading structural warranties specialist. Tel: 0845 900 3969, email: sales@ahci.co.uk or pay a visit to our homepage: https://ahci.co.uk/