The government plans to increase the cost of buying a home by raising Land Registry fees in England and Wales.

Under yesterday’s proposals, fees for homes up to £50,000 would rise £10 to £50; a £150,000 property would be £50 higher at £200; and £1m-plus places would soar £220 to £920.

The housing slump has seen the Registry fall £148million into the red, the first annual loss in its 147-year history.

Searches and copies of documents would also cost more from July 6.

Land Registry reports 8% fall in UK house prices

The Land Registry has revealed annual house prices in England and Wales have fallen 8%, while it posted a monthly fall of 2.2% in September.

This takes the average property to £168,814, according to the Land Registry.

The biggest monthly fall was noted in Wales, where house prices declined by 5.5% last month.

However, London proved the most resilient as prices were down by 6.1% over the year, taking the average property price to £328,927.

Meanwhile, Hartlepool experienced a 4.7% increase over the year, taking the average property to £115,018.

Furthermore, the Land Registry said the number of property sales fell to 58,000 between April and July, compared with 111,000 for the same period in 2007.

The data is regarded as the most reliable house price indicator as it is based on completed property transactions.

According to Howard Archer, chief UK economist at Global Insight, it seems highly likely that house prices have further to fall, particularly as the fundamentals continue to be largely stacked against the housing market.

Reports over the last week are mixed as to how much property prices will fall with economic forecasting agency, Capital Economics, predicting that house prices will fall 35% by next autumn, from their peak of last summer.

Meanwhile, Knight Frank estate agents said house prices in the UK will fall 30% from their high of summer 2007 and fall to levels seen in September 2003.

Yesterday, however, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) has predicted that house prices will fall in value by 25% from their peak. The organisation believes that house prices will not recover to the levels they peaked at in 2007 until 2013.

U.K. house prices fell 4.6 percent in August

U.K. house prices fell 4.6 percent in August from a year earlier, the most since at least 2000, the Land Registry said today.

From July, the average home value declined 1.9 percent, the registry, which records all property transactions in England and Wales, said in a report in London today. Both readings are the biggest since the Land Registry’s records started in April 2000, the report said.

The declines leave the average cost of a home at 174,493 pounds

Solicitor accused of forging land registry documents

Solicitor accused of forging land registry documents