general

House price crash history: the biggest falls in England and Wales since 1995

House price crash history from the UK House Price Index: how far prices fell after 2007 and 2022 in each English region and Wales, and how long recovery took.

5 min read
Last reviewed 4 November 2026
By Your Property Check team

Part 1 of 6

What the index shows

General information, not advice. This page uses the UK House Price Index (UK HPI), published by HM Land Registry and the Office for National Statistics, using the monthly series held in our data files up to August 2026. The files cover England and Wales from January 1995. They do not cover Scotland or Northern Ireland, so we say nothing about them here. The index is set to 100 in January 2023, so the numbers below are index points and percentages, not pounds.

GOV.UK's UK HPI reports page says the latest report covers August 2026 and was published on 21 October 2026, and that the revision period is normally 12 months. Recent months can therefore change slightly.

Part 2 of 6

How we measured a fall

For each area we took the highest monthly figure in a window around the market top, then the lowest figure after it, and the first later month at which the index was back at or above the old peak. The windows were January 2007 to December 2008 for the first fall (trough searched to December 2013), and January 2022 to December 2023 for the second (trough searched to August 2026). Monthly figures are not smoothed, so a single odd month can move a peak or trough by a month or two.

Part 3 of 6

The 2007 to 2009 fall

This is the only fall in the series that most people would call a crash. The index peaked in England in September 2007 at 64.3 and bottomed in March 2009 at 52.6.

Area	Peak month	Trough month	Fall	Months, peak to trough	Months, trough to back at peak
England	Sep 2007	Mar 2009	18.2%	18	62
Wales	Aug 2007	Mar 2009	18.2%	19	99
North East	Jul 2007	Feb 2013	19.7%	67	95
North West	Dec 2007	Mar 2009	18.2%	15	98
Yorkshire and The Humber	Oct 2007	Mar 2009	17.6%	17	87
East Midlands	Sep 2007	Feb 2009	18.7%	17	77
West Midlands	Aug 2007	Mar 2009	17.4%	19	76
East of England	Nov 2007	Mar 2009	19.7%	16	61
London	Sep 2007	Apr 2009	17.9%	19	36
South East	Oct 2007	Mar 2009	20.0%	17	57
South West	Sep 2007	Apr 2009	19.4%	19	65

Two things stand out. The falls were similar everywhere, between 17.4% and 20.0%, but the recovery was not. London was back at its old peak 55 months after the top (April 2012), while Wales took 118 months (June 2017) and the North East took 162 months (January 2021). The North East's index kept sliding to 2013, which is why its trough is so late. The single worst year-on-year change in the England series was 15.6% down, in the twelve months to March 2009.

Part 4 of 6

The 2022 to 2024 fall

Prices dipped again after the 2022 peak, but by much less.

Area	Peak month	Trough month	Fall	Latest (Aug 2026) against the old peak
England	Sep 2022	Feb 2024	4.5%	1.2% above
Wales	Oct 2022	Apr 2023	5.9%	4.0% above
North East	Aug 2023	Apr 2024	5.1%	7.2% above
North West	Sep 2022	Mar 2023	4.2%	8.7% above
Yorkshire and The Humber	Nov 2022	Mar 2023	5.5%	5.6% above
East Midlands	Dec 2022	Jan 2024	4.5%	1.7% above
West Midlands	Oct 2022	Mar 2023	4.5%	3.7% above
East of England	Nov 2022	Mar 2024	6.5%	2.2% below
London	Aug 2022	Feb 2024	6.0%	4.6% below
South East	Oct 2022	Mar 2024	6.4%	3.1% below
South West	Aug 2022	Apr 2025	7.1%	3.2% below

Seven of the eleven areas listed, including England as a whole, were above their 2022 or 2023 peak in August 2026. The East of England, London, the South East and the South West were still below theirs. England touched its old peak again in March 2025, then dipped in April 2025 (98.1) before rising, which is a reminder that single months are noisy. The 12-month change in London in our regional file for August 2026 is a fall of 2.2%, so the pattern is still moving; see our page on where prices are falling.

Part 5 of 6

What this does and does not tell you

It is a record, not a forecast. The index shows what happened. It does not say what happens next, and we make no prediction.
Averages hide homes. An area fall is an average over many sales. A flat in one street can move more or less. You can see local sales for yourself in the sold prices tool.
The index lags the market. It is built from registered sales, and the gap between sale and registration typically runs from 2 weeks to 2 months, so the latest months are the least settled.
Price is not the only thing that moves. How long a sale takes and how many fall through also change when prices fall; see our guide on how long it takes to sell a house.

Part 6 of 6

If you own a home now

A fall on the index matters most if you have to sell or remortgage while prices are down. If you are not forced to move, the history shows that recovery took years in some areas and months in others. If you are thinking of selling, a free house value check uses recent local sales as evidence, and our best time to sell page looks at whether the month of the year matters.

This page is general information, not advice.

Our take

Falls are real, but recovery is local

The 2007 to 2009 fall was 18.2% in England and took 80 months to regain its peak. The smaller fall after 2022 was 4.5%, and in August 2026 seven of the eleven areas listed were back above their peak. We think averages hide homes, so treat the area line as a guide. This is history, not a forecast.

What Your Property Check adds: the sold prices tool shows real Land Registry transactions for any postcode, and our free house value check gives an honest value range from those sales, with the working shown.

Check my value

Our opinion, drawn from the facts on this page: not advice and not a forecast. We earn from OfferCheck reports and from introducing sellers to cash buyers, so weigh it with that in mind (see our disclosure). We are not authorised or regulated by the FCA.

Questions, answered

Frequently asked questions

Has the UK ever had a house price crash?

Yes. The England series of the UK House Price Index fell 18.2% from September 2007 to March 2009. The North East index was still falling in 2013. A smaller fall of 4.5% followed the September 2022 peak.

How far did prices fall after 2008?

By 17.4% to 20.0% depending on the region, with England at 18.2%. The worst single year-on-year drop in the England series was 15.6%, in the twelve months to March 2009.

How long did the recovery take after 2007?

England took 80 months from its September 2007 peak to get back to it (May 2014). London took 55 months, Wales 118 months and the North East 162 months.

Which regions fell most?

After 2007 the South East fell most (20.0%) and the West Midlands least (17.4%). After 2022 the South West fell most (7.1%) and the North West least (4.2%). These are index falls, not the prices of individual homes.

Does this predict the next fall?

No. It records past falls only. We do not forecast house prices, and a past pattern does not show what the index will do next.

Where this comes from

Sources

Last reviewed 4 November 2026 by the Your Property Check team. This page is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. For your own situation, speak to a conveyancing solicitor or another qualified professional.