"It’s interesting to see that across majority areas for the big three, as well as independents, house prices over the last year have actually fallen in contrast to the marginal uplift seen across the national market as a whole"
- Verona Frankish - Yopa
Yopa analysed the past year’s average house price changes (April 2023 - April 2024) across all English local authority districts that are under majority control by either Labour, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Greens, or Independents, as well as those that are under no overall control, to see which parties have seen the strongest price growth.
Yopa’s analysis reveals that in the past year, England’s average house price has increased by 0.6%, rising from £296,415 in April 2023 to £298,229 in April 2024.
The worst house price performance has been recorded within the local authority districts where Independents hold majority power. Across these seven independent councils, the average price has fallen by -4.2% in the past year to hit a current average of £341,087.
Across 100 Labour-controlled councils, the average price has fallen by -2% since April 2023, and across 44 Conservative-controlled councils, prices have dropped by -1.7% to an average of £297,303.
The Liberal Democrats have fared only slightly better. Across the 38 councils in which they enjoy majority control, prices have fallen by -1.3% and the average price now sits at £398,062 - the highest average price for all political parties.
The Greens have majority control over just one local authority district where prices have remained unchanged (0%) over the year.
But somewhat surprisingly, the strongest price performance, and the only one to see real growth on the year, comes in those councils where there is no overall control (NOC). Across the 57 NOC councils in England, the average house price has increased by 0.3% to sit at a current average of £310,279.
CEO of Yopa, Verona Frankish, commented: “The housing market is always high on the political agenda and the Government tends to lean on a buoyant housing market as a pillar of economic success.
"So it’s interesting to see that across majority areas for the big three, as well as independents, house prices over the last year have actually fallen in contrast to the marginal uplift seen across the national market as a whole.
"Based on our research, it appears that the best political party when it comes to house price performance is actually no majority party at all.”
