Areas that voted Leave in the European Union referendum have witnessed the biggest house price increases since the Brexit vote, research has shown.
Regions with a majority Leave vote have seen house prices increase by 2.27 per cent from an average of £191,611 to £195,957 today, according to eMoov’s Brexit House Price report.
Meanwhile, the average house price in the Remain regions has gone up by 1.36 per cent since the EU referendum, from £247,471 to £250,840.
The top five regions to see the largest price growth since the Brexit vote were all home to a majority Leave vote, with the East Midlands seeing the most substantial increase of 3.84 per cent, followed by the West Midlands (3.62 per cent), the east of England (3.46 per cent), the north west (2.92 per cent) and Yorkshire and the Humber (2.92 per cent).
The pattern was replicated in London, where house price growth across the boroughs that voted Leave increased by 11.1 per cent compared to just 1.9 per cent across boroughs that were home to a majority Remain vote.
Founder and chief executive of eMoov.co.uk Russell Quirk said: “We thought it would be interesting to run this research from a neutral standpoint to assess what impact, if any, the EU Referendum has had on the UK property market.
“What is clear is that those areas that voted to remain were home to a much higher average house price in general and it would seem that it is this upper end of the market in each region that has seen price growth slow the most.
“Encouraging news for those at the other end of the ladder, who seem to be benefiting the most since the decision to leave.
“What it certainly does highlight is that there are still swathes of the market, even in London, where the UK property market remains immune to any external political uncertainty, and this should stand us in good stead as we exit the EU and with the recent general election in mind.”
Nick Green, broker at Coventry-based Alternative Estates and Financial Services, said: “Outside of London, Brexit did not really make a difference to housing. Prices went up more down to a lack of supply and large demand.
“Post Brexit, we have definitely seen a big increase in prices [in Coventry], but there are other factors: the university and Jaguar Land Rover have been pumping money into the town, and a combination of them rather than the Brexit vote was the reason for the increase.”
He added that the General Election result appeared to have had more of an impact on the housing market, with a shift towards letting rather than buying due to the uncertain political climate.
simon.allin@ft.com
