House sale prices across the Richmond borough fell over the summer.

The average sale figure for all property types was £754,361 in July, which was down from £768,693 in June.

This fall was at odds with small average increases across London and England, according to official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Land Registry.

The fall in the average cash sale price translated to a lower level of annual house price inflation in Richmond. The annual figure fell from 10.8 per cent in June to 4.7 per cent in July.

This 4.7 per cent figure compares to 9.2 per cent for the whole of London and 16.4 per cent for England.

Richmond property prices remain well above the averages for London and England and the fall in this area comes against the background of steep increases over the past two years.

The official figures give a breakdown of average sale prices according to property type. These show:

* Detached property average sale price in July was £1,679,205 - down from £1,714,453 in June.

* Semi-detached average sale price in July was £1,103,960 – down from £1,125,166 in June.

* Terraced properties average sale price in July was £868,910 – down from £882,148 in June.

* Flats/maisonettes average sale price in July was £491,396 – down from £502,586 in June.

While Richmond is a relatively wealthy borough, increases in interest rates and the disappearance of cheap fixed rate deals have made buying a first home or moving up the property ladder more expensive.

The current Bank of England base rate is running at 1.75 per cent and there are warnings it could climb to 4 per cent, which would push up the cost of home loans.

A further squeeze on household budgets has come from increases in other must pay bills, such as energy and food.

Despite the house price falls, most first time buyers in Richmond are effectively priced out of home ownership.

The Council is under pressure to allow new developments. Currently, thousands of flats – and fewer family homes – are in the pipeline on the site of the former Homebase near North Sheen Station, the Stag Brewery, Kew Retail Park, the Barnes Hospital site, Ham Close estate, the former Greggs factory in Twickenham and Twickenham Riverside.