Eight years of quantitative easing (QE) and record low interest rates is estimated to have cost savers more than £160bn, but supported strong house price increases as well as stocks and bonds.

Analysis by online estate agents HouseSimple.com suggests that average UK home prices have increased by more than 40%, which equates to almost £60,000 since 2009, when interest rates were cut to an historic low of just 0.5%.

It is now just over eight years and three months since the day the Bank of England cut interest rates to 0.5% (the rate fell to its existing level of 0.25% in August 2016) and during that time the average price in the UK has increased by 41.2%, led by gains in Cambridge and London where the average property has almost doubled in value.

HouseSimple has analysed how much UK house prices have risen or fallen since March 2009, by looking at average house prices, based in Land Registry data, in 100 UK towns and cities between March 2009 and April 2017.

Overall, the South East has fared particularly well, with seven of the 10 biggest property price rises since March 2009. Cambridge, London and Slough have all seen average house price growth in excess of 90%. However, at the other end of the performance chart, Hartlepool has recorded a 9% drop, Durham a 6.2% fall, while prices in Middlesbrough are down 4.5%, In fact, all regions in the North East have seen prices fall.

The following table shows the UK towns and cities that have seen the biggest rises in average property prices since interest rates fell to 0.5% in March 2009:

Town/City	Region	Average Property Price – March 2009 (£)	Average Property Price – April 2017 (£)	% Increase in property price
Cambridge	East	224,469	441,527	96.7
London	South East	278,186	530,751	90.8
Slough	South East	160,774	305,649	90.1
Oxford	South East	228,586	415,843	81.9
Watford	East	200,219	360,396	80.0
Milton Keynes	South East	147,903	262,241	77.3
Hemel Hempstead	East	230,686	406,312	76.1
Luton	South East	132,001	231,315	75.2
Brighton	South East	202,564	353,195	74.4
Crawley	South East	158,285	273,517	72.8
Stevenage	South East	160,350	276,201	72.2
Guildford	South East	261,614	444,232	69.8
Reading	South East	177,688	301,443	69.6
Colchester	East	149,654	253,618	69.5
Woking	South East	244,218	411,303	68.4

The following table shows UK towns and cities that have seen the worst property price growth since interest rates fell to 0.5% in March 2009:

Town/City	Region	Average Property Price – March 2009 (£)	Average Property Price – April 2017 (£)	% Increase/ (decrease)  in property price
Hartlepool	North East	110,231	100,291	-9.0
Durham	North East	102,003	95,638	-6.2
Middlesbrough	North East	118,605	113,285	-4.5
Blackburn	North West	104,105	103,075	-1.0
Preston	North West	111,264	111,414	0.1
Swansea	Wales	100,676	102,243	1.6
Rochdale	North West	120,616	124,191	3.0
St Helens	North West	129,556	137,840	6.4
Southport	North West	110,562	118,552	7.2
Wakefield	West Yorkshire	110,687	118,904	7.4
Carlisle	North West	142,122	152,719	7.5
Gateshead	North East	126,419	135,998	7.6
Barnsley	South Yorkshire	104,029	113,419	9.0
Doncaster	South Yorkshire	109,427	120,098	9.8
Glasgow	Scotland	104,902	115,180	9.8

London

Across the capital, average home price growth has been particularly strong during this unprecedented time of record low interest rates, with prices rising on average 90.8%. The borough of Kensington and Chelsea tops the chart, with average prices increasing by 128.9%, while the less glamorous boroughs of Haringey and Waltham Forest have witnessed impressive price growth since March 2009, with price growth of 111.7% and 106.4% respectively.

The following table shows the London boroughs that have seen the biggest rises in average property prices since interest rates fell to historic low of 0.5% in March 2009:

Average Property Price – April 2017 (£)

London Borough	Average Property Price – March 2009 (£)/th_column]		% Increase in property price
Kensington and Chelsea	598,430	1,369,708	128.9
Haringey	263,609	558,003	558,003
Waltham Forest	203,666	420,348	106.4
City of Westminster	502,387	1,033,617	105.7
Lambeth	255,001	521,198	104.4

The following table shows the London boroughs that have seen the lowest rises in average property prices since interest rates fell to historic low of 0.5% in March 2009:

Average Property Price – April 2017 (£)

London Borough	Average Property Price – March 2009 (£)/th_column]		% Increase in property price
Havering	207,166	358,251	72.9
Camden	465,563	814,188	74.9
Tower Hamlets	264,712	470,021	77.6
Bexley	187,076	334,191	78.6
Bromley	245,444	439,112	78.9

Alex Gosling, CEO of online estate agents HouseSimple.com, said: “While UK savers have suffered over the past eight years, millions of homeowners have increased their equity in their homes substantially in this once-in-a-generation low interest rate environment. It’s been a golden period for UK homeowners, but there are signs that it could be coming to an end as the MPC narrowly voted to hold interest rates at 0.25%.

“House prices are also under pressure from the political and economic uncertainty of Brexit and the fallout from the disastrous General Election result for the Conservative Party. There is no evidence to suggest that property prices are about to plummet, but homeowners and home buyers do need to plan ahead, and make sure they can cover the impact of interest rate rises on their monthly mortgage payments.

“Many homeowners will have never seen an interest rate rise, and may believe rates will never rise. But they will eventually, and when they do, we could see rates rise by 1%-2% quite quickly. With many households already feeling the strain of higher day-to-day costs, monthly mortgage payments going up by several hundred pounds a month could tip them over the edge.”

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