House prices increased by 0.8 per cent across the Cumberland Council area in April, new figures show.

The rise contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 4.2 per cent over the last year.

The average Cumberland area house price in April was £166,017. Land Registry figures show a 0.8 per cent increase on March.

Over the month, the picture was similar to that across the North West, where prices increased 0.7 per cent and Cumberland was above the 0.3 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

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Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Cumberland rose by £6,800 – putting the area 11th among the North West’s 35 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

First-time buyers in the Cumberland area spent an average of £141,900 on their property – £6,100 more than a year ago, and £24,200 more than in April 2019.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £189,600 on average in April – 33.6 per cent more than first-time buyers.