The National Statistician is calling for the introduction of a single ‘headline’ official house price index.
A single ‘headline’ official house price index would help deal with user concerns about the coverage, clarity and comparability of official housing statistics.
As things currently stand, consumers see a plethora of different official and unofficial house price data each month.
Official house price statistics, from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and Land Registry, are published along with survey results from banks such as Nationwide and Halifax.
Drawing on different sources, the data published by these bodies often provides a differing view of UK house price movements.
Given the importance of house price figures when it comes to consumer confidence, and therefore spending behaviour, we welcome this call for a single official house price figure.
Done properly, this could also provide valuable information about different parts of the housing market; different regions and types of residential property.
