House prices increased slightly, by 0.5%, in the Forest of Dean in April, new figures show.

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 12.7% over the last year.

An imbalance between supply and demand for properties has remained the primary reason behind climbing house prices across the UK throughout the pandemic.

The need for larger deposits and constraints on accessing mortgages have pushed homeownership further out of reach for many first-time buyers – despite Government figures showing 50% of renters would be able to afford the monthly payments.

In a recent major speech in Blackpool, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a “comprehensive review” of the mortgage market would take place in a bid to help more people onto the property ladder.

The average the Forest of Dean house price in April was £305,785, Land Registry figures show – a 0.5% increase on March.

Over the month, the picture was different to that across the South West, where prices increased 1.9%, and the Forest of Dean was lower than the 1.1% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in the Forest of Dean rose by £34,000 – putting the area 15th among the South West’s 29 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

The highest annual growth in the region was in North Devon, where property prices increased on average by 20.8%, to £333,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in West Devon gained just 4% in value, giving an average price of £289,000.

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in the Forest of Dean spent an average of £241,000 on their property – £26,000 more than a year ago, and £72,000 more than in April 2017.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £340,000 on average in April – 41.4% more than first-time buyers.

Property types

Owners of detached houses saw the biggest rise in property prices in the Forest of Dean in April – they increased 0.6%, to £409,558 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 14.2%.

Among other types of property:

How do property prices in the Forest of Dean compare?

Buyers paid 4% less than the average price in the South West (£319,000) in April for a property in the Forest of Dean. Across the South West, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £281,000.

The most expensive properties in the South West were in Cotswold – £471,000 on average, and 1.5 times as much as more than in the Forest of Dean. Cotswold properties cost 2.2 times as much as homes in Plymouth (£216,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.

Factfile

Average property price in April

Annual growth to April

Highest and lowest annual growth in the South West