Peterborough house prices dip entering 2023 - after rising during summer 2022

Peterborough house prices rose last summer despite the housing market across England and Wales beginning to stall during the cost-of-living crisis, new figures show.

Nationally, more recent data shows prices have dropped entering 2023, with estate agents blaming Liz Truss' disastrous autumn mini-budget for the fall in activity as some buyers were forced to renegotiate on price due to reduced affordability.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show the median house in Peterborough cost £225,000 in the year to September – up from £220,000 in the year to June.

In the year to March 2022, it was £220,000.

Nationally, house prices fell for the first time since 2011 from £279,000 in September 2021 to £270,000 last year, while further ONS figures show prices have fallen further at the start of this year.

The figures also show the median average income for a full-time employee in Peterborough was £30,243 in the year to September.

It meant full-time-working house hunters needed 7.4 times their income to buy a home.

However, two decades ago, the average house cost £76,500, while the average wage was £19,680.

It meant the price of a home was 3.9 times the average full-time annual wage, with houses now almost twice as unaffordable as than 20 years before.

Government must grasp nettle

Henry Parkes, economist at the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank said: "Home ownership is horribly out of reach for working families trying to buy a home of their own, putting continued upwards pressure on rents and enriching landlords further."The Government must grasp the nettle, reform the land market and planning, and invest in the affordable homes the country needs. Only then will everyone be able to access secure, good quality and affordable housing they need."

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said it is investing £11.5 billion in increasing "genuinely affordable homes".

A spokesperson added: "We want to give communities more of a say over development in their area and build more homes in the places people want them.

"That is why we have consulted on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework that will put local communities at the heart of the planning system whilst protecting the greenbelt."