ECONOMY House prices rise 10% in a year

House prices are now 10 per cent higher than a year ago, helped along by a strong rise this month, a survey said yesterday.

Prices rose by 1.2 per cent in May compared with 0.4 per cent in April, according to the Nationwide Building Society's latest monthly house price index.

But the price rises mask an "uneven" recovery, said Dr Paul Sanderson, the society's head of research. The indications were that shortages of property for sale were still causing problems in some areas. Dr Sanderson claimed cuts in mortgage interest tax relief (MIRAS) - rumoured to be on Chancellor Gordon Brown's hit list - would hit people living in the North and Scotland hardest.