England’s capital city is about to get twice as expensive.
London house prices are set to almost double in the next decade, Business Insider reports. On average, a house in the city costs more than $790,000. By 2025, that number will go up to about $1.4 million. That’s a faster predicted rise than real estate prices in the rest of the U.K., which are expected to be up 50% in the same time.
The National Association of Estate Agents and the Association of Rental Letting Agents estimates that in the U.K. the average price of a house currently stands about $417,000. They predict that number will rise to about $624,000 by 2025 and, in the next five years alone, the cost of a house in the country is projected to increase by 4.5% each year.
“Housing prices are only going to go one way, and unfortunately that is up,” NAEA managing director Mark Hayward said in a housing research report. He said “ongoing house price inflation, combined with low wage inflation, tighter lending restrictions and a shortage of affordable housing” will make owning a home tougher and tougher for many Brittons.
It will also become increasingly difficult for renters to save up for a house because a lot of their earnings will go towards rising rent prices.