UK house price growth slowed to 1.8 percent in July, and the same release puts the average stay in a home in England at 14 years
Fourteen years. That is how long the average household in England has now stayed in one home, and it has been broadly stable at that level since 2010 and 2011.
The figure comes out of Nationwide Building Society's July house price index, published on Friday, which pairs its monthly price reading with a note on English Housing Survey data. The price reading itself was quiet. Annual growth slowed to 1.8 percent from 2.2 percent in June, prices rose 0.1 percent on the month after a flat June, the seasonally adjusted index moved from 550.6 to 551.1, and the average price not seasonally adjusted went from £277,484 to £277,542.
Robert Gardner, the society's chief economist, is quoted on the page saying activity and prices have been soft in recent months, in part reflecting what he calls an uncertain economic backdrop. He points to the conflict between Iran and the United States as pressure on energy prices and market interest rates, and says expectations for the future path of Bank Rate have been volatile. He also says the Monetary Policy Committee can take some comfort from consumer price inflation declining further in June.
The part that is not about prices
Behind the 14 year average sit four very different populations, and the release sets them out.
Those who own outright have been in their current home for nearly 24 years on average, with around a third of them past 30 years in the same property. Those renting privately have the shortest tenure, and around half of them have been in their current property for two years or less. Around a quarter of those owning with a mortgage have also been in place two years or less, which Nationwide reads as a possible sign of first time buyer activity in recent years, and average residence in the private rented sector has risen slightly over the last decade while mortgaged ownership has slipped a little.
Then there is the direction of travel between those groups, measured on households that moved in 2024 and 2025.
Around three quarters of all moves were within the same tenure type and a quarter between types. Moves within the private rented sector were the largest single category at 640,000, close to twice the number of moves within owner occupation. Nearly 200,000 households moved from private renting into owner occupation.
