London · Data · HM Land Registry

London house prices fall 2.2% in a year to £554,430 while UK prices rise 0.9%, official index for August 2026 shows

The UK House Price Index for August 2026, published by HM Land Registry on 21 October, puts the average London home at £554,430, down 2.2% on August 2025 and the weakest annual change of any English region. Across the UK the average rose 0.9% in a year to £273,037.

Al Mithaq news desk · Published 21 October 2026 · Updated 21 October 2026 · Source: GOV.UK (HM Land Registry)

A curved row of pastel painted terraced houses with iron balconies on Chalcot Crescent, Primrose Hill, London. Picture: No Swan So Fine, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

£554,430average London home in August 2026, down 2.2% in a year

-5.0%change in the average price of London flats over the year

£273,037average UK home, up 0.9% in a year and 0.3% in a month

The national picture

HM Land Registry publishes the UK House Price Index each month, based on completed sales. For August 2026 the average UK house price was £273,037, up 0.3% on July and 0.9% on August 2025, and the index stands at 104.6 against its January 2023 base. England averaged £293,525, up 0.4% in a year, Wales £216,000, up 3.1%, and Scotland £198,000, up 2.9%. Among English regions the North East grew fastest, by 3.2%. HMRC counted 95,000 property transactions in August on a seasonally adjusted basis, 1.9% fewer than a year earlier.

London in detail

The London average was £554,430, 2.2% lower than in August 2025 and the lowest annual change of any English region, although prices rose 0.7% between July and August. HM Land Registry says the London average is £15,000 below its recent peak of £569,000 in July 2025 and £8,000 above its recent low of £546,000 in March 2026. Falling flat prices drove the annual drop: the average London flat lost 5.0% in a year, while the average price of London houses rose. Prices were lower than a year earlier in 22 of London's 33 local authority areas. By type, the average London flat or maisonette cost £427,000, a terraced house £649,000, a semi-detached house £731,000 and a detached house £1,164,000, and first-time buyers in London paid £473,000 on average.

Borough by borough

The largest annual falls were in central London: the City of London down 14.6% to £726,633, the City of Westminster down 14.3% to £887,206, Kensington and Chelsea down 13.8% to £1,204,072, the highest average in London, and Tower Hamlets down 13.3% to £447,950. Kingston upon Thames rose most, by 4.9% to £597,587, and Barking and Dagenham, the lowest average in London at £369,881, rose 4.7%. Wandsworth, where much of Nine Elms sits, fell 5.3% to £694,210, and Southwark fell 2.1% to £569,160.

Why it mattersOur view for a Kuwaiti buyer: London is the English region where the average price has fallen most against a year ago, with the South East the only other region down, by 0.8%, and it is flats, not houses, that pulled London down. The developments we offer in London are mainly apartments, so this is a market in which to negotiate and compare, not one in which to rush. The sharpest falls are in the most expensive central areas, but a single borough's figure rests on far fewer sales than the London average and can swing from one month to the next, so we read those figures as a direction, not as the price of a particular flat. Buy on the building, the location and the rent it can earn, and budget for stamp duty: our guide works through a £500,000 flat bought by a non-resident who owns another home, with no reliefs, where it comes to £50,000. The index is an average of completed sales and does not forecast where prices go next.

What Al Mithaq adds

Our London guide lists the 14 London developments we offer from £335,000, by London Square (an Aldar company) and Arada London, with the six steps from reservation to keys and stamp duty worked through. For a buyer who will let the home from Kuwait, our guide to HMRC's Non-Resident Landlord Scheme explains how the rent is taxed. Tell our team in Kuwait your budget and the area you want, and we will send plans and current prices.