The monthly house price index in London has increased since 2015, albeit with fluctuation. In August 2025, the index reached 99.1, which is a slight decrease from the same month in 2024. Nevertheless, prices widely varied in different London boroughs, with Kensington and Chelsea being the priciest boroughs for an apartment purchase.

The house price index in London reached 99.1 index points in May 2025, which was an increase of 2.2 percent year on year. The house price index (HPI) is an easy way of illustrating trends in the house sales market and help simplify house purchase decisions. By using hedonic regression, the index models property price data for all dwellings and shows how much the price has changed since January 2023. Average house prices in Londnon boroughs Location plays a huge role in the price of a home. Kensington and Chelsea and City of Westminster are undoubtedly the most expensive boroughs in London, with an average house price that can exceed one million British pounds. In comparison, a house in Barking and Dagenham cost approximately one third. Nevertheless, the housing market is the busiest in the boroughs with average house prices. How have regional house prices in the UK developed? House prices in other UK regions have risen even more than in London. In Northern Ireland, the house price index reached nearly 120 index points in May 2025, ranking it among the regions with the highest property appreciation. The UK house price index stood at 103 index points, suggesting an increase of 51 percent since 2015.

After a period of rapid increase, house price growth in the UK has moderated. In 2025, house prices are forecast to increase by ****percent. Between 2025 and 2029, the average house price growth is projected at *** percent. According to the source, home building is expected to increase slightly in this period, fueling home buying. On the other hand, higher borrowing costs despite recent easing of mortgage rates and affordability challenges may continue to suppress transaction activity. Historical house price growth in the UK House prices rose steadily between 2015 and 2020, despite minor fluctuations. In the following two years, prices soared, leading to the house price index jumping by about 20 percent. As the market stood in April 2025, the average price for a home stood at approximately ******* British pounds. Rents are expected to continue to grow According to another forecast, the prime residential market is also expected to see rental prices grow in the next five years. Growth is forecast to be stronger in 2025 and slow slightly until 2029. The rental market in London is expected to follow a similar trend, with Outer London slightly outperforming Central London.

According to the forecast, house prices in London are expected to continue to increase until 2029. During the five-year period from 2025 to 2029, the house prices for mainstream properties are forecast to rise by **** percent. In 2023, the average house price in London ranged between ******* British pounds and *** million British pounds, depending on the borough. Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Newham, and Croydon were some of the most affordable boroughs to buy a house.

The prime property rental real estate market in Central London is expected to see an overall increase in rental rates during the five-year period between 2025 and 2029, according to the latest forecast. Over the five-year period, the cumulative prime rental growth is forecast at **** percent. Rent increase in Outer London is expected to follow the same trend.

The Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR) increased gradually since 2015 and reached a value of ***** in ************. That indicates a rental increase of ** percent since ************, the baseline year when the index was set to 100. The rental rates for mainstream properties are forecast to continue to grow over the next five years.

Renters in the UK spent on average 32.5 percent of their income on rent as of January 2025. Scotland and Yorkshire and Humber were the most affordable regions, with households spending less than 28 percent of their gross income on rent. Conversely, London, South West, and South East had a higher ratio. Greater London is the most expensive region for renters Greater London has a considerably higher rent than the rest of the UK regions. In 2024, the average rental cost in Greater London was more than twice higher than in the North West or West Midlands. Compared with Greater London, rent in the South East region was about 600 British pounds cheaper. London property prices continue to increase In recent years, house prices in the UK have been steadily increasing, and the period after the COVID-19 pandemic has been no exception. Prime residential property prices in Central London are forecast to continue rising until 2027. A similar trend in prime property prices is also expected in Outer London.

The average agreed rent for new tenancies in the UK ranged from *** British pounds to ***** British pounds, depending on the region. On average, renters outside of London paid ***** British pounds, whereas in London, this figure amounted to ***** British pounds. Rents have been on the rise for many years, but the period after the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend. Since 2015, the average rent in the UK increased by about ** percent, with about half of that gain achieved in the period after the pandemic. Why have UK rents increased so much? One of the main reasons driving up rental prices is the declining affordability of homeownership. Historically, house prices grew faster than rents, making renting more financially feasible than buying. In 2022, when the house price to rent ratio index peaked, house prices had outgrown rents by nearly ** percent since 2015. As house prices peaked in 2022, home buying slowed, exacerbating demand for rental properties and leading to soaring rental prices. How expensive is too expensive? Although there is no official requirement about the proportion of income spent on rent for it to be considered affordable, a popular rule is that rent should not exceed more than ** percent of income. In 2024, most renters in the UK exceeded that threshold, with the southern regions significantly more likely to spend upward of ** percent of their income on rent. Rental affordability has sparked a move away from the capital to other regions in the UK, such as the South East (Brighton and Southampton), the West Midlands (Birmingham) and the North West (Liverpool, Manchester, Blackpool and Preston).

London is the most expensive city for office real estate in Europe. In 2023, the per square foot cost of office space in London was higher than in any other European city. In West End, a Grade A office cost about 90 British pounds per square foot in 2023. Prime offices were even more expensive, at 135 British pounds per square meter. Office yields Prime yields in Central London fluctuate depending on the district, but West End areas tend to have lower yields compared to other areas, such as Stratford or Canary Wharf. The prime office yield in Mayfair/St. James' in 2023 was the lowest among the major London office submarkets. In real estate, yields measure the potential return of a rental property and are calculated as the ratio of the property's rental income to the investment cost. Typically, prime office yields in London are lower than the rest of the UK, which is mostly due to the highly competitive market and high investment costs. Vacancy rates Despite the high office rental costs in England’s capital city, vacancy rates in many of London's main office markets were below seven percent in 2023. This is good news for the office sector, as during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the share of vacant office space across all Central London districts spiked dramatically. Compared to other European cities, London was in the middle of the ranking, alongside Frankfurt and Lisbon.

Rents in England's capital, London, declined by *** percent annually as of January 2025. Nevertheless, many boroughs recorded growing rental prices, with Bromley and Croydon observing double-digit growth. Across the region, Croydon, Barking, Dagenham, and Havering ranked as some of the most affordable areas to rent. As shown by the Index of Private Housing Rental Prices, rents in the UK have soared since the COVID-19 pandemic.