Accredited official statistics

UK House Price Index summary: January 2023

Published 22 March 2023

1. Headline statistics for January 2023

The average price of a property in the UK was £289,819

The annual price change for a property in the UK was 6.3%

The monthly price change for a property in the UK was -1.1%

The monthly index figure (January 2015 = 100) for the UK was 152

Estimates for the most recent months are provisional and are likely to be updated as more data is incorporated into the index. Read Revisions to the UK HPI data.

Next publication of UK HPI

The February 2023 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 19 April 2023. See the calendar of release dates for more information.

2. Economic statement

The annual percentage change for average UK house prices was 6.3% in the 12 months to January 2023, compared with 9.3% in the 12 months to December 2022 and 10.2% in the 12 months to November 2022.

The average UK house price was £290,000 in January 2023, which is £17,000 higher than 12 months ago. Average house prices increased over the 12 months to £310,000 (6.9%) in England, to £217,000 in Wales (5.8%), to £185,000 in Scotland (1.0%) and to £175,000 in Northern Ireland (10.2%).

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average UK house prices decreased by 1.1% between December 2022 and January 2023, while average UK house prices increased by 1.7% during the same period 12 months ago. This caused the UK annual inflation rate to slow this month.

Annual house price inflation was highest in the North East where prices increased by 10.0% in the 12 months to January 2023. The lowest annual inflation was in Scotland, where prices increased by 1.0% in the 12 months to January 2023. London was the English region with the lowest annual growth, where prices increased by 3.2% in the 12 months to January 2023.

However, Scotland saw lower annual inflation than London, with prices increasing by 1.0% in the 12 months to January 2023. Scotland annual house price inflation slowed this month because average prices decreased by 0.5% between December 2022 and January 2023, while average Scotland house prices increased by 3.4% during the same period 12 months ago.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS’) January 2023 UK Residential Market Survey reported a muted market backdrop at present, with new buyer demand, sales, fresh listings and prices all reported to be on a downward trend. Near-term expectations suggest this picture is likely to remain in place for a while longer as the market adjusts to the higher interest rate environment.

The Bank of England’s Agents summary of business conditions 2022 Q4 reported the supply of homes for sale increased faster than demand with higher borrowing costs and concerns about affordability weighing significantly on demand from first-time buyers.

The UK Property Transactions Statistics showed that in January 2023, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the estimated number of transactions of residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater was 96,650. This is 10.6% lower than 12 months ago (January 2022). Between December 2022 and January 2023, UK transactions decreased by 2.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The Bank of England’s Money and Credit January 2023 release reported that mortgage approvals for house purchases, an indicator of future borrowing, decreased to 39,600 in January 2023, from 40,500 in December 2022. This was the fifth consecutive monthly decrease in mortgage approvals for house purchases. If the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and period immediately thereafter is excluded, house purchase approvals are at the lowest level since January 2009 (32,400). ##3. Price changes

3.1 Annual price change

Annual price change for UK by country over the past 5 years

Average house prices in the UK increased by 6.3% in the 12 months to January 2023, down from 9.3% in December 2022.

At the country level, the highest annual house price percentage change in the 12 months to January 2023 was recorded in England, where house prices increased by 6.9%.

Wales saw house prices increase by 5.8% in the 12 months to January 2023.

Scotland saw houses prices increase by 1.0% in the 12 months to January 2023.

Northern Ireland saw house prices increase by 10.2% over the 12 months to Quarter 4 (October to December) 2022.

3.2 Average price by country and government office region

Price, monthly change and annual change by country and government office region

Country and government office region Price Monthly change Annual change
England £310,159 -1.2% 6.9%
Northern Ireland (Quarter 4 - 2022) £175,234 -0.5% 10.2%
Scotland £185,016 -0.5% 1.0%
Wales £216,871 -2.3% 5.8%
East Midlands £251,177 -1.7% 8.6%
East of England £358,114 -1.1% 6.8%
London £533,986 -1.0% 3.2%
North East £163,371 0.6% 10.0%
North West £214,431 -2.4% 7.2%
South East £398,368 -1.2% 6.3%
South West £329,691 -0.4% 7.1%
West Midlands Region £256,694 0.2% 9.9%
Yorkshire and The Humber £207,635 -2.5% 6.5%

Price changes by country and government office region

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK decreased by 1.1% between December 2022 and January 2023. This was down from an increase of 1.7% during the same period 12 months ago (December 2021 and January 2022). On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK decreased by 0.6% between December 2022 and January 2023.

Note: The Northern Ireland figure represents a 3-month change and is not comparable with the other regions and countries.

3.3 Average price by property type

Average monthly price by property type

Property type January 2023 January 2022 Difference
Detached £458,066 £429,085 6.8%
Semi-detached £282,643 £263,006 7.5%
Terraced £237,057 £221,562 7.0%
Flat or maisonette £227,951 £222,729 2.3%
All £289,818 £272,739 6.3%

4. Sales volumes

The amount of time between the sale of a property and the registration of this information varies. It typically ranges between 2 weeks and 2 months but can be longer. Volume figures for the most recent 2 months are not yet at a reliable level for reporting, so they are not included in the report. Published transactions for recent months will increase as later registered transactions are incorporated into the index.

Sales volume data is also available by property status (new build and existing property) and funding status (cash and mortgage) in our downloadable data tables. Transactions involving the creation of a new register, such as new builds, are more complex and require more time to process. Read Revisions to the UK HPI data for more information.

4.1 Sales volumes

Number of sales volumes by country

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for the current month with the revised volume estimate for the corresponding month in the previous year

Country November 2022 November 2021
England 52,896 60,199
Northern Ireland (Quarter 4 - 2022) 2,047 2,260
Scotland 8,866 9,589
Wales 2,972 4,265

Note: Comparing the provisional volume estimate for the current month with the revised 12-month volume estimate.

Note: The ‘Difference’ column has been removed from this table as the latest month’s data are not yet complete.

Note: The number of property transactions for November 2022 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for November 2021 with the provisional estimate for November 2022, volume transactions increased by 65.4% in England, decreased by 6.2% in Scotland and increased by 28.2% in Wales. Northern Ireland’s volume transactions decreased by 0.1% in the year to Quarter 4 2022.

UK Property Transaction Statistics published by HM Revenue & Customs (which differ in coverage but are more complete for this period) report that on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, in the 12 months to November 2022 volume transactions increased by 13.5% in England, decreased by 8.1% in Wales, decreased by 5.2% in Scotland, and decreased by 8.0% in Northern Ireland.

4.2 Sales volumes for the UK over the past 5 years

Sales volumes for 2018 to 2022 by country: November

Note: The number of property transactions for November 2023 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for November 2021 with the provisional estimate for November 2022, UK volume transactions increased by 45.8%.

UK Property Transaction Statistics published by HM Revenue & Customs (which differ in coverage but are more complete for this period) report that on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, UK volume transactions increased by 10.0% in the 12 months to November 2022.

5. Property status for UK

Transactions involving the creation of a new register, such as new builds, are more complex and need more time to process. This means they can take longer to appear in the land registers. The volume of new build transactions for the most recent 2 months are not at a reliable level for reporting the breakdown between new build and existing resold property, so they are not included in the report.

New build and existing resold property

Property status Average price November 2022 Monthly change Annual change
New build £413,809 6.7% 22.3%
Existing resold property £287,390 0.1% 9.5%

Note: Since the October 2017 release, amendments have been made to our estimation model when calculating our provisional estimate. Find out further information and the impact of this change in the methods used to produce the UK HPI.

6. Buyer status for Great Britain

First time buyer and former owner occupier

For Great Britain only, Northern Ireland data is not available for buyer status.

Type of buyer Average price January 2023 Monthly change Annual change
First time buyer £240,938 -1.6% 6.1%
Former owner occupier £339,781 -0.9% 6.4%

7. Funding status for Great Britain

Cash and mortgage

For Great Britain only, Northern Ireland data is not available for funding status.

Funding status Average price January 2023 Monthly change Annual change
Cash £274,218 -1.0% 5.9%
Mortgage £302,486 -1.2% 6.4%

8. Access the data

Download the data as CSV files or access it with our UK HPI tool.

Data revisions

View any revisions to previously published data in the data downloads or find out more about revisions in our guidance About the UK HPI.

10. About the UK House Price Index

The UK House Price Index (UK HPI) is calculated by the Office for National Statistics and Land & Property Services Northern Ireland. Find out about the methodology used to create the UK HPI.

Data for the UK House Price Index is provided by HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, The Land & Property Services/Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency and the Valuation Office Agency.

Find out more about the UK House Price Index.

11. Contact

Eileen Morrison, Data Services Team Leader, HM Land Registry

Email eileen.morrison@landregistry.gov.uk

Telephone 0300 006 5288

Aimee North, Head of Housing Market Indices, Office for National Statistics

Email aimee.north@ons.gov.uk

Telephone 01633 456400

Ciara Cunningham, Statistician for the Northern Ireland HPI

Email ciara.cunningham@finance-ni.gov.uk

Telephone 028 90 336035

Anne MacDonald, Land & Property Data Team, Registers of Scotland

Email Anne.MacDonald@ros.gov.uk

Telephone 0131 378 4991