UK house prices rise in February as chancellor avoids ‘negative speculation’

<p>Rachel Reeves’ upcoming spring forecast has not led to slowdown, as property tax rumours did in November</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2026/mar/02/oil-price-us-israel-iran-war-100-dollars-a-barrel-stock-markets-drop-travel-news-updates">Business live – latest updates</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/mar/02/raf-cyprus-yvette-cooper-keir-starmer-us-iran-israel-uk-politics-latest-news">UK politics live – latest updates</a></p></li></ul><p>House prices in the UK increased in February as Rachel Reeves avoided a repeat of the pre-budget “negative speculation” that depressed the market, as she prepares to present the spring forecast on Tuesday.</p><p>The average price of a home rose to £273,176 last month, up 0.3% from the month before, Nationwide said. It matched January’s monthly increase, and was above analysts’ forecasts of a 0.2% gain. The annual growth rate remained steady at 1%, the country’s biggest building society said.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/02/uk-house-prices-rise-february-spring-forecast-rachel-reeves">Continue reading...</a>

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