Accredited official statistics

UK House Price Index summary: May 2022

Published 20 July 2022

1. Headline statistics for May 2022

The average price of a property in the UK was £283,496

The annual price change for a property in the UK was 12.8%

The monthly price change for a property in the UK was 1.2%

The monthly index figure (January 2015 = 100) for the UK was 148.7

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 June 2022 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 17 August 2022. See the calendar of release dates for more information.

2. Economic statement

UK house prices increased by 12.8% in the year to May 2022, up from 11.9% in April 2022. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK increased by 1.2% between April and May 2022, up from an increase of 0.4% during the same period a year earlier (April and May 2021).

House price growth was strongest in the South West where prices increased by 16.9% in the year to May 2022. The lowest annual growth was in London, where prices increased by 8.2% in the year to May 2022.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS’) May 2022 UK Residential Market Survey reported there was a modest decline in buyer demand during May, bringing an end to eight consecutive months of positive readings beforehand.

The Bank of England’s Agents summary of business conditions 2022 Q2 reported a modest increase in the availability of properties for sale across the UK and house price inflation starting to moderate in some areas.

The UK Property Transactions Statistics showed that in May 2022, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the estimated number of transactions of residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater was 109,210. This is 5.1% lower than a year ago (May 2021). Between April and May 2022, UK transactions increased by 1.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The Bank of England’s Money and Credit May 2022 release reported that mortgage approvals for house purchases, an indicator of future borrowing, increased to 66,200 in May 2022, from 66,100 in April 2022. This falls slightly below the pre-pandemic 12-month average up to February 2020 of 66,700.

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 12.8% in the year to May 2022, up from 11.9% in April 2022.

At the country level, the largest annual house price growth in the year to May 2022 was recorded in Wales, where house prices increased by 14.4%.

Scotland saw houses prices increase by 11.2% in the year to May 2022.

England saw house prices increase by 13.1% in the year to May 2022.

Northern Ireland saw house prices increase by 10.4% over the year to Quarter 1 (January to March) 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 £302,278 1.3% 13.1%
Northern Ireland (Quarter 1 - 2022) £164,590 3.4% 10.4%
Scotland £187,517 1.1% 11.2%
Wales £212,414 0.9% 14.4%
East Midlands £244,060 1.9% 15.2%
East of England £353,574 2.6% 14.8%
London £526,183 0.2% 8.2%
North East £153,592 -0.1% 9.7%
North West £205,783 -0.2% 11.5%
South East £388,531 1.4% 13.5%
South West £323,418 1.0% 16.9%
West Midlands Region £247,162 2.2% 14.0%
Yorkshire and The Humber £204,835 2.1% 12.6%

Price changes by country and government office region

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK increased by 1.2% between April 2022 and May 2022, up from 0.4% during the same period a year earlier (April 2021 and May 2021).

On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK increased by 0.9% between April 2022 and May 2022.

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 May 2022 May 2021 Difference
Detached £444,562 £386,982 14.9%
Semi-detached £273,591 £240,848 13.6%
Terraced £232,665 £205,877 13.0%
Flat or maisonette £228,492 £210,902 8.3%
All £283,496 £251,286 12.8%

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

Country March 2022 March 2021
England 44,650 115,873
Northern Ireland (Quarter 1 - 2022) 1,812 2,505
Scotland 8,041 12,248
Wales 2,600 5,040

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 March 2022 will increase as more transactions are incorporated into the index. See our Revisions Policy for more information.

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for March 2021 with the provisional estimate for March 2022, volume transactions decreased by 44.4% in England, decreased by 32.8% in Scotland and decreased by 26.0% in Wales. Northern Ireland’s volume transactions decreased by 19.3% in the year to Quarter 1 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 year to March 2022 volume transactions decreased by 38.1% in England, 32.5% in Scotland, 30.5% in Northern Ireland and 23.7% in Wales.

4.2 Sales volumes for the UK over the past 5 years

Sales volumes for 2018 to 2022 by country: March

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

Comparing the provisional volume estimate for March 2021 with the provisional estimate for March 2022, UK volume transactions decreased by 41.7% in the year to March 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, UK volume transactions decreased by 37.0% in the year to March 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 March 2022 Monthly change Annual change
New build £402,933 5.2% 26.5%
Existing resold property £270,063 0.4% 8.4%

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 May 2022 Monthly change Annual change
First time buyer £236,783 1.5% 12.5%
Former owner occupier £331,579 1.1% 13.4%

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 May 2022 Monthly change Annual change
Cash £268,731 1.1% 12.6%
Mortgage £295,980 1.3% 13.1%

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.

9. 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.

10. 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