House price growth reaches 180 per cent

Posted: 06 Sep 2007 12:02:42 GMT

House prices have increased vastly in the last ten years according to the latest figures.

House prices have increased vastly in the last ten years according to the latest figures.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has revealed that prices rocketed by 180 per cent between 1997 and 2007.

It puts the average price today at £168,000, compared to just £60,000 a decade ago.

The figures highlight a problem with affordability in the UK as the TUC also reveals that wages have not increased at anywhere near the same level.

In 1997, the average wage was just £17,000, while today the average Briton earns £24,000 - a 43 per cent increase and well below the 180 per cent rise seen in house prices.

"These stark figures bring alive the housing crisis. They show just how quickly buying your own home has gone out of the reach of many working people," said Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC.

"It is striking that house prices seem to have gone up in line with the pay of top directors and the super-rich, rather than middle and low earners.

"Our research shows just how much housing has become an engine of inequality. If you are lucky enough to own your own home you have got that bit richer every day than those that do not," he added.

House prices continued to rise in August with Halifax revealing that annul inflation reached 11.4 per cent in the year.

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