House price fall slows down

New figures from Nationwide, the UK's biggest building society, show that house prices continued to fall in November, but that the slump became less sever, with a fall of only 0.4 per cent.

In October, prices fell 1.3 per cent, said the bank. While prices have fallen by 13.9 per cent in comparison to November last year, the year-on-year fall for October was 14.6 per cent.

But Nationwide's chief economist, Fionnuala Earley, said the slump was not over: "In spite of the moderation in house price falls recorded in November, with the economy in recession, conditions do not appear very favourable for a swift recovery in the housing market."

Yesterday, the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, denied Conservative claims that the Government is planning a 'secret VAT bombshell' as a consequence of its attempts to beat the recession. The Treasury said a document which explains that VAT will increase to 18.5 per cent in 2011 was published in error on a website, and relates to a proposal which was considered but rejected.