UK house prices unchanged in September as mortgage costs rise

UK house prices were unchanged in September 2026, Lloyds reported on 7 October, putting the average home at £298,441. The flat reading followed a fall in August and matters to buyers and sellers weighing a quieter market against rising borrowing costs. Separate Bank of England figures show that purchase approvals fell and the rate on newly drawn mortgages rose in August, before the September price reading.

What the Lloyds September house price index shows

The Lloyds House Price Index recorded a 0.0% monthly change and a 0.0% annual change in September. Its quarterly measure was down 0.2%. Prices had fallen 0.3% in August, so September's result marks a pause in that decline, rather than evidence of a renewed rise. At £298,441, the reported average was roughly the same as in the previous month and a year earlier.

The series was previously called the Halifax House Price Index. Lloyds changed its name in July 2026 and says its methodology did not change; the calculation already used mortgage data from both Halifax and Lloyds. That continuity matters when comparing the latest reading with earlier reports under the Halifax name. The index is a standardized measure drawn from mortgage data, rather than a count of every property transaction across the UK.

An unchanged national average does not mean that every seller received the same price as a month earlier, or that values stood still in every region. The retained figures establish the national index reading, but provide no regional breakdown or independently measured total of September transactions. They therefore cannot show how widely the flat result was shared across local markets or property types.

What August mortgage approvals say about buyer activity

Approvals for remortgaging with another lender also fell, to 34,000 in August from 34,600 in July. At the same time, net borrowing of mortgage debt rose to £4.4bn from £4.1bn. That borrowing figure remained below the previous six-month average of £5.2bn. Taken together, the figures describe different stages of mortgage activity: approvals, refinancing decisions and borrowing already recorded. None is a September transaction count.

Borrowing became more expensive in the Bank's August data. The effective interest rate on newly drawn mortgages rose to 4.60% from 4.45% in July. The rate on the outstanding stock of mortgages edged up to 4.00% from 3.97%. Those are rates measured on lending, and they refer to August; they should not be read as the rate available to every borrower shopping for a mortgage in October.

The Guardian separately reported that the average five-year fixed mortgage rate reached 6% on Monday, citing market-rate data. That quoted offer measure and the Bank's effective rate on newly drawn loans describe different things and different periods. The Guardian also reported that major lenders had recently increased their rates amid turmoil in global bond markets. Those changes can affect the sums prospective buyers consider affordable, but the available figures do not prove that higher rates caused September's flat house-price reading.

Lloyds' view of demand and what remains unclear

Andrew Asaam, Lloyds' mortgages director, described the overall market as fairly subdued but said prices had so far proved resilient during a period of higher mortgage rates. He attributed that period in part to changing expectations about the future path of the Bank of England's base rate. His assessment is the lender's explanation of market conditions, not a measured causal finding about September prices.

Asaam said new enquiries from prospective buyers at Lloyds were at their highest since February, even as higher mortgage rates and wider economic uncertainty encouraged some people to take a more measured approach. Enquiries indicate interest in buying; they do not establish that those people secured loans or completed purchases. The weaker August approvals figure and the lender's more recent enquiry account can therefore both be reported without treating them as equivalent measures.

Looking ahead, Asaam said price movements were likely to remain modest. He said demand over the rest of 2026 and into 2027 would depend partly on whether consumers believed current cost-of-living pressures would prove temporary. That is an outlook, not a forecast confirmed by subsequent sales. The next Lloyds index is scheduled for 6 November; until newer price and lending figures arrive, September's flat reading and August's mortgage data offer a snapshot at different points in time.