Property in London: The borough that was the only place in Britain where house prices fell last year

Lewisham was the only area in Britain to see a reduction in property prices over the past year. According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, property prices are rising by nearly £700 a day in parts of London.
Although every borough in London saw a rise in house prices, the borough of Lewisham was the only place in Britain to see a price drop of 0.5%. Between March 2021 and 2022, the average house price in Kensington and Chelsea increased by 20.3%, meaning house prices increased by £671 per day on average. In Richmond upon Thames prices rose by an average of £253 a day, while in Westminster house prices rose by £209 a day.
branch manager of Robinson Jackson Lewisham Estate Agents Alan Middlewood told MyLondon the spike in prices across the country was largely down to the stamp duty exemption. Introduced in 2020 to combat the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the housing market, the stamp duty holiday meant buyers were not required to pay tax on properties up to £500,000 until June 30, 2021.
READ MORE: The priciest streets in Hackney where the average house costs £2.5m
Mr Middlewood said: ‘Last year we had a very big rise in prices with the stamp duty holiday and that was probably the majority of the gain. People were saving quite a bit of money on stamp duty and this overinflated business above what it would have been. But later last year, we weren’t as busy as we would have expected.
“Prices haven’t come down yet, but the market is definitely easing. The news about interest rates and the cost of living may have a bit of an effect on first-time buyers because they think prices will go down.
“I’ve been doing this for 25 years, so I’ve kind of seen these trends before. There is a small transition now where we have had price increases and it takes a while for reviews to marry between sellers and buyers. So I think we’re entering a different phase from where we were last year.
Mr Middlewood also confirmed property prices in Lewisham have fallen slightly, saying: ‘I can agree with that statistic. Prices here have come down a bit because that’s usually what happens when activity slows down. I’m not sure why, but it could be because Lewisham as a borough lacks foreign investment. Below are the average price increases for each London borough from March 2021 to 2022:
Kensington and Chelsea
2022: £1,451,567
2021: £1,206,534
Percentage increase: 20.3%
Richmond on the Thames
2022: £770,509
2021: £678,051
Percentage increase: 13.6%
westminster
2022: £1,030,679
2021: £954,360
Percent increase: 8%
Camden
2022: £868,105
2021: £805,321
Percentage increase: 7.8%
Ealing
2022: £546,906
2021: £501,982
Percentage increase: 8.9%
Bromley
2022: £495,597
2021: £453,171
Percentage increase: 9.4%
Redbridge
2022: £485,183
2021: £445,906
Percentage increase: 8.8%
Bexley
2022: £395,675
2021: £358,856
Percentage increase: 10.3%
Wandsworth
2022: £635,944
2021: £599,282
Percentage increase: 6.1%
Hammersmith and Fulham
2022: £753,234
2021: £717,193
Percent increase: 5%
sutton
2022: £430,730
2021: £394,830
Percentage increase: 9.1%
Barnett
2022: £576,886
2021: £542,160
Percentage increase: 6.4%
Barking and Dagenham
2022: £342,466
2021: £311,911
Percentage increase: 9.8%
Croydon
2022: £419,612
2021: £390,487
Percent increase: 7.5%
Hillingdon
2022: £453,297
2021: £425,448
Percent increase: 6.5%
Hackney
2022: £620,454
2021: £592,641
Percentage increase: 4.7%
City of London
2022: £753,406
2021: £725,635
Percentage increase: 3.8%
Harrow
2022: £510,962
2021: £485,776
Percentage increase: 5.2%
Greenwich
2022: £433,711
2021: £409,008
Percent increase: 6%
To have
2022: £408,884
2021: £384,528
Percentage increase: 6.3%
merton
2022: £564,749
2021: £541,323
Percentage increase: 4.3%
Waltham Forest
2022: £499,051
2021: £483,369
Percentage increase: 3.2%
Newham
2022: £408,856
2021: £393,936
Percentage increase: 3.8%
Tower hamlets
2022: £482,997
2021: £468,434
Percentage increase: 3.1%
islington
2022: £699,757
2021: £685,818
Percent increase: 2%
Enfield
2022: £434,190
2021: £422,285
Percentage increase: 2.8%
Kingston on the Thames
2022: £516,015
2021: £505,877
Percent increase: 2%
Haringey
2022: £584,622
2021: £575,885
Percent increase: 1.5%
Lambeth
2022: £542,820
2021: £535,077
Percentage increase: 1.4%
Hounslow
2022: £431,343
2021: £425,666
Percentage increase: 1.3%
Brent
2022: £513,666
2021: £513,100
Percent increase: 0.1%
Southwark
2022: £525,923
2021: £525,775
Percent increase: 0%
Lewisham
2022: £446,777
2021: £449,066
Percent increase: -0.5%
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