Educational, not advice. This article sets out what the main UK house price indices reported up to 21 October 2026 and explains why they differ. It is general information, not personal financial advice. Savvy Investor Guide is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Nothing here tells you whether to buy, sell, wait or fix a mortgage.
What this article covers: the latest readings from the official UK House Price Index, Nationwide, Lloyds (formerly Halifax), Zoopla and Rightmove; the stage of a sale each one measures and why that makes them disagree; where in the UK prices are rising and where they are falling; the mortgage rates behind the figures; and the dates that could change the picture before the end of the year.
What it does not cover: what any home is worth, whether now is a good time to buy or sell, or what any individual should do. It covers the United Kingdom only.
In short
- The official index, published this morning, puts the UK average at £273,000 in August 2026, up 0.9% on a year earlier. July’s annual rise has been revised from 1.4% to 1.2%.
- The lenders’ own indices are flat to barely rising. Lloyds had prices unchanged on the year in September, at 0.0%. Nationwide had them up 0.8%, half August’s 1.6%.
- Asking prices rose in October, but not on the year. Rightmove’s average for newly listed homes rose 1.0% on the month to £371,015, and is 0.1% lower than a year ago.
- The indices disagree because they measure different moments. Rightmove counts asking prices, Nationwide and Lloyds count mortgage approvals, and the official index counts completed sales, which can lag the deal by months.
- The split is regional. Northern Ireland is rising fastest on the official index and on both lenders’ indices. London is falling on Lloyds’ measure and on the official one, and only just rising on Nationwide’s.
- Mortgage rates are the backdrop. Moneyfacts’ average five-year fix reached 6% on 5 October, for the first time in roughly three years. Bank Rate is 3.75%, and the next decision is on 5 November.
- The Budget on 28 October is due to set out the income and price caps for Your First Home, the new first-time buyer scheme.
UK house prices in October 2026: what the official index says
UK house prices in October 2026 depend on which index you read. The official one, from the Office for National Statistics and HM Land Registry, came out at 9.30am this morning and covers August. It puts the average UK house price at £273,000, up 0.9% on August 2025. That is a provisional figure. In July the average was also £273,000, and July’s annual rise has been revised from 1.4% to 1.2%, so annual growth has now slowed for four months running.
By nation, England is at £294,000 (up 0.4%), Wales £216,000 (up 3.1%) and Scotland £198,000 (up 2.9%). Northern Ireland is measured quarterly; its latest reading, for April to June, was £202,000, up 9.2% on the year. London is at £554,000, down 2.2% on the year, a smaller fall than July’s, which is now revised to 3.2%.
The official index is the most complete of the five. It is built from every registered sale, not one lender’s book or one website’s listings. Completeness costs time, though, and time is the first reason the indices disagree.
Five measures, five different moments in a sale
A house sale passes through several stages. The asking price goes up on a website, a buyer agrees a figure, a lender approves the mortgage, and weeks or months later the sale completes and is registered. Each index takes its reading at a different stage.
| Index | What it measures | Latest reading | Month covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rightmove | Asking prices of homes newly listed for sale | £371,015, up 1.0% on the month, down 0.1% on the year | October 2026 |
| Nationwide | Its own mortgage approvals | £274,251, up 0.8% on the year | September 2026 |
| Lloyds (formerly Halifax) | Its own mortgage approvals | £298,441, 0.0% on the year | September 2026 |
| Zoopla | Achieved sale prices, from sold prices, mortgage valuations and agreed sales | £273,000, up 0.8% on the year | August 2026 |
| Official UK HPI (ONS and HM Land Registry) | Completed sales registered with the Land Registry | £273,000, up 0.9% on the year | August 2026 |
The averages differ as much as the trends do. Lloyds’ average is about £24,000 above Nationwide’s, and Rightmove’s asking-price average is higher than both. None of them is wrong. Each draws on a different mix of homes and buyers, and an asking price is what the seller hopes for, not what the buyer pays.
Why the official index runs months behind
A sale only enters the official index once it has been registered, and HM Land Registry says the delay between completion and registration “typically ranges between 2 weeks and 2 months”. The first estimate for any month is calculated on around 40% of the sales that will eventually be registered for it. Later estimates use about 80% and then 85%, which is why the last twelve months are revised every time a new figure comes out.
The lag starts even earlier. The government’s own comparison of the indices notes that Nationwide’s and Lloyds’ are based on mortgage approvals, and that approvals take “2 to 3 months” to show up in completed-sales figures. So a price agreed in late spring can surface in the lenders’ indices in early summer and in the official index in the autumn.
Rightmove, then, shows what sellers are asking now, Nationwide and Lloyds what buyers were borrowing against a month or two ago, and the official index what changed hands over the summer. When rates rise sharply, as they did in September, the faster indices feel it first. That, more than anything, is why UK house prices in October 2026 read differently from one index to the next.
Where house prices are rising and where they are falling
The two lenders agree on the shape, and so does the official index. Northern Ireland is rising fastest: up 7.4% on the year to a record £231,917 on Lloyds’ measure, and up 5.9% on the year in the third quarter on Nationwide’s. Scotland and the north of England come next. Lloyds has Scotland up 3.4%, the North East up 2.4% and the North West up 1.9%. Nationwide has the North West up 3.9% and Scotland up 3.3%.
The south is weaker. Lloyds has Greater London down 2.2% on the year, the largest fall of any region, with the South East down 2.1% and Eastern England down 1.6%. Nationwide is gentler, with London up 0.4% and East Anglia down 0.7%, its weakest region. Zoopla, whose figures run to August, has London down 1% and prices lower in every southern region except the East Midlands. Lloyds notes that its regional figures use three months of approvals, so they move more slowly than its monthly UK headline.
Buyers, sellers and the number of homes for sale
The agents’ surveys point the same way as the prices. In the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ September survey, published on 6 October, the house price balance fell to -32 from -28, new buyer enquiries to -22 and agreed sales to -18. Those are net balances: the share of surveyors reporting a rise minus the share reporting a fall, so a negative figure means more saw falls than rises. The survey’s headline readings cover England and Wales.
Supply is up. In September Rightmove said there were “more homes currently available to buy than we’ve seen in 12 years”, with buyer enquiries 9% lower than a year earlier. In October it reported the most homes for sale for the time of year since 2014, with new listings 3% up on a year earlier, buyer enquiries again 9% down and sales agreed 8% down. Zoopla reported sales agreed in the four weeks to 20 September running 9% below 2025, with 5% more homes for sale.
Not every signal is negative. Lloyds says enquiries from prospective buyers are “now at their highest since February”, and Nationwide says that “underlying affordability is improving, as house price growth has been well below earnings growth for some time.”
The mortgage rates behind the figures
The slowdown lines up with the repricing of fixed mortgage rates through September. Moneyfacts’ average five-year fix reached 6% on 5 October, its first time at that level in roughly three years, and its two-year average reached 5.98%, the highest since mid-December 2023. In the week to 9 October the two averages were 5.97% and 5.99%. Rightmove’s own tracker, which uses a different panel, had the average two-year fix at 5.29% in September and 5.55% in October.
Approvals have fallen with them. The Bank of England says net mortgage approvals for house purchases fell to 54,900 in August, “below an average of around 60,100 over the previous 6 months”. Lloyds puts that at 16% below August 2025.
Bank Rate itself has stayed at 3.75%. It was held on 17 September, and the Bank has said it may need to raise it to bring inflation back to its 2% target. Fixed rates are priced off swap rates, which reflect where markets expect Bank Rate to go, so they can rise before Bank Rate moves. Why UK mortgage rates turned back up in September 2026 explains that mechanism, and the September 2026 mortgage repricing lists which lenders moved and when.
What the Budget on 28 October could change
The government announced Your First Home on 26 September. It is “expected to support 2.5% deposits, backed by 20% government-backed equity loans”, for first-time buyers in England purchasing a new-build home from a developer signed up to the scheme, with an initial interest-free period of unstated length. The household income cap, the local property price caps, the costs and the timetable are all due at the Budget.
Lloyds made the same point in its September release: the full eligibility criteria and implementation details “are not expected to be confirmed until the Budget in October.” Until then, nobody can say how many buyers it will reach or which price bands it will touch. Lloyds’ average first-time buyer price was £236,779 in September. For the Budget’s wider backdrop, see gilt yields and the 28 October Budget, and for the savings side of buying a first home, the First Time Buyer ISA.
Dates to watch
- Wednesday 28 October: the Budget, including the Your First Home caps.
- Thursday 29 October: the Bank of England’s September mortgage approvals.
- Thursday 5 November: the Bank of England’s next Bank Rate decision.
- Friday 6 November: the Lloyds House Price Index for October.
- Wednesday 18 November: the official UK House Price Index for September.
- Wednesday 16 December: the official UK House Price Index for October.
Nationwide, Zoopla and Rightmove do not publish fixed dates in advance. Nationwide’s last three came out around the turn of the month, on 31 July, 1 September and 1 October.
Frequently asked questions
Which house price index is the right one?
None of them, for every purpose. The official index is the most complete because it covers all registered sales, but it is the slowest. Nationwide and Lloyds are quicker but cover only their own mortgage customers, so they leave out cash buyers. Rightmove is the earliest signal but measures asking prices, which are not sale prices. Two or three read together tell you more than any one alone.
Why is Lloyds’ average price so much higher than Nationwide’s?
Because each is the average of a different set of homes. Each lender’s figure reflects the homes its own customers buy and the way it adjusts for the mix of property types. The trend is more useful than the level: in September Lloyds had prices flat on the year and Nationwide had them up 0.8%, which is a small gap.
Is the Halifax index still published?
It continues as the Lloyds House Price Index. The series runs on, under the Lloyds name. Halifax is becoming Lloyds covers what the change means for Halifax customers.
Do falling asking prices mean my home is worth less?
Not directly. An index is an average across many homes, and a single property’s value depends on its own location, condition and the buyers interested in it at the time. Asking prices also move with the season and with what is newly listed that month. For a figure on a particular home, a surveyor’s valuation or a local agent’s appraisal is the usual route.
Sources
- HM Land Registry, “UK House Price Index summary: July 2026”, 16 September 2026
- HM Land Registry, “UK House Price Index summary: August 2026”, 21 October 2026
- Office for National Statistics, “Private rent and house prices, UK: October 2026”
- HM Land Registry, “About the UK House Price Index”
- HM Land Registry, “Comparing house price indices in the UK”
- Nationwide, “Annual house price growth halves in September”, 1 October 2026
- Lloyds, “Lloyds House Price Index: September 2026”, 7 October 2026
- Zoopla, “House Price Index: September 2026”
- Mortgage Introducer, “UK mortgage rates hit 3-year high as housing sales fall”, 29 September 2026
- Rightmove, House Price Index, 19 October 2026
- RICS, “UK Residential Market Survey: September 2026”, 6 October 2026
- Moneyfactscompare, “Average 5-Year Fixed Mortgage Rate Hits 6%”, 5 October 2026
- Bank of England, “Money and Credit: August 2026”
- Bank of England, “Interest rates and Bank Rate”
- GOV.UK, “New first-time buyer scheme to be confirmed at Budget”, 26 September 2026
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