• Houses near top state secondary schools ‘cost £40,000 more’

  

  

UK house prices increased for the first time in four months in August, according to a leading index, as buyers and sellers remained in a “holding pattern” before an expected increase in interest rates later this year.

The average price of a British home rose 0.2% month on month in August to £275,465, the first increase since April, according to Nationwide. Analysts had forecast a 0.1% rise.