House Prices In London Have Officially Gone Through The Roof, And Here Are The Depressing Graphs To Prove It

    This post contains the least surprising news of the day.

    Guess what? More price increases in today's figures.

    The figures show that annually house prices have risen again, now rising at 3.1% - that figure was 2.7%, so annual house price inflation is accelerating.

    This means nearly £5,000 piled on to the price of an average (£165,515) home.

    Property ownership is now at its lowest level since the 1980s.

    Here's Andy, from Enfield. Like the majority of people aged 25-34, he can't afford a home.

    We would love to be able to buy somewhere when we're in our 30s, but with house prices as high as they are and so few homes we can actually afford, even this is looking pretty much impossible. If you'd asked me when I was 21 and graduating, I'd certainly be expecting to own some sort of property within a few years. It's sad that even though we're living with my parents and saving as much as we can, this is still so far out of reach.

    This is what some basic foods would cost if their prices had risen at the same rate as house prices.

    How did we get in this mess?

    This excellent post by Daniel Knowles explains.

    The housing charity Shelter has produced a calculator to work out how long it'll take you to save up for a house. It is one of the most depressing things on the Internet.

    It has also drawn up a map showing how much affordable housing there is for couples in England.

    Which looks even more depressing if you're single.

    But perhaps the most interesting recent Shelter research is this study, which shows stabilizing prices would actually be a vote winner.