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Lloyds (formerly Halifax) records first annual house-price fall since November 2023 as government sets out Renters' Rights Act next phase

Week ending 10 September 2026 · published 10 September 2026

The 3 to 10 September window delivered one fresh lender house-price index, a renewed firming of average mortgage rates on the Rightmove daily tracker, and an unusually heavy government-policy load. The Lloyds House Price Index, formerly the Halifax House Price Index, published its August 2026 reading on 7 September; the Bank of England held Bank Rate at 3.75 per cent with the next decision on 17 September 2026. No new Nationwide, ONS, HM Land Registry or Rightmove House Price Index print appeared in the window.

Lloyds August reading and the lender-index picture

The Lloyds House Price Index (formerly Halifax) reported an average UK house price of 298,468 pounds for August 2026, down 0.2 per cent month-on-month and 0.4 per cent year-on-year; July was also down 0.2 per cent month-on-month. Andrew Asaam, Mortgages Director at Lloyds, said this marked the first annual fall in house prices since November 2023, although prices remain marginally up, by 0.2 per cent, since the start of the year. The Lloyds page confirms the methodology is unchanged: the index already uses both Halifax and Lloyds mortgage data. The lender-index gap is now roughly 2.0 percentage points, with Nationwide at plus 1.6 per cent year-on-year for August and Lloyds at minus 0.4 per cent; both series use mix-adjusted mortgage-approval valuations. Nationwide revised its July figure to plus 1.4 per cent from the previously published 1.8 per cent last week.

Mortgage rates and Bank Rate

The Rightmove daily mortgage tracker, refreshed on 10 September, put the average two-year fixed rate at 5.06 per cent. The 85 per cent loan-to-value headline row rose across every tier: two-year fixed moved to 5.09 per cent from 4.99 per cent the prior week, a 0.10 percentage point weekly rise; five-year fixed rose to 5.12 per cent from 5.03 per cent. The 95 per cent LTV first-time-buyer row held flat at 4.97 per cent for two-year fixed and 4.98 per cent for five-year fixed. Bank Rate remains at 3.75 per cent after the 30 July 2026 Monetary Policy Committee decision, where three members voted for a 0.25 percentage point rise to 4 per cent.

Renters' Rights Act next phase and the MHCLG appointment

On 9 September the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that a national landlord registration service will roll out region by region from December; HMRC's Valuation Office will take over responsibility for initial decisions on challenges to rent increases in England. Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook said the move is intended to resolve rent disputes more quickly. On 8 September the department announced the appointment of Tom Riordan as Permanent Secretary, starting 21 September 2026 on a fixed five-year term; Riordan is currently Northern Growth Envoy at HM Treasury and previously served as Chief Executive of Leeds City Council from 2010 to 2024.

RSH judgements, reorganisation and visitor levy

The Regulator of Social Housing published three judgements on 9 September. Keystage CIC, a Luton-based small provider, failed the Governance and Financial Viability Standard after self-referring in December 2025. Melton Borough Council was upgraded from C2 to C1 on consumer standards. Look Ahead Care and Support received its first published judgements of C2, G2 and V2 across roughly 1,100 owned or managed social homes. On 7 September the government launched a review of Local Government Reorganisation; Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk are withdrawn, while 14 other areas plus Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and West Sussex are paused; Surrey is unaffected. On 10 September the government devolved power to Foundation Strategic Authority mayors to decide whether to introduce an Overnight Visitor Levy as a percentage of accommodation cost.

Sources

We report what the data shows — no forecasts, no investment advice. For local detail, see house prices by area and the monthly market report.