House prices in Belper have increased by eight per cent in the space of a year, according to latest figures. Statistics from House.co.uk said the average property price in Belper during June was £220,220, compared to £203,731 during the same month in 2013. The rise had mainly been fuelled by a surge in the cost of terraced housing in the town - which increased by 27 per cent over the year. A reduction in the amount of homes on the market - from 365 to 281 - had also increased demand. Meanwhile, in a separate study conducted by Nationwide, house prices in Derbyshire rose by 10 per cent in the space of a year. The Nationwide House Price Index revealed that the average cost of a home in the county was now £174,690 . This compares with the East Midlands average of £154,145 - an increase of 8.3 per cent. Despite the surge, Chris Hobson, head of information and representation at Chamber of Commerce for Derbyshire, said prices across the county were not rising on the scale of London, where property prices have risen 18.7 per cent over the past year. He said: “It is widely accepted that rising house prices in London and the South East have been overheating the property market and it’s right that the Bank of England has taken steps to contain it. “Regionally, however, house prices have been far more stable and the impact has been less keenly felt here. “We would not want to see the fall-out from a cap on mortgage lending or a tightening of credit conditions make it more difficult for local people to get on or move up the property ladder.”. Last week, the Bank of England announced plans to cap mortgages in an effort to “cool” rising house prices. Prices increased by one per cent in June, compared with a 0.7 per cent rise in May. The move came after the bank’s governor, Mark Carney, warned that the housing market was a threat to the UK economy’s stability, particularly “inflationary pressures” caused by soaring house prices in London, where the average house price has risen above £400,000 for the first time. The bank outlined a plan to cap the proportion of home loans that can be made at high multiples of income. Under the proposal, lenders will not be allowed to lend any more than 15 per cent of residential mortgages at more than 4.5 times a borrower’s income. Affordability checks on borrowers will also be strengthened.
