A property price rise in the UK could be the Tories’ last election trump card

With the market expected to improve this year, the Conservatives will doubtless seek to exploit the reliable vote-winning tool

Property prices will go back up next year. Not by much. And not by enough for those who chart their wellbeing by the value of their home. In the pantheon of property price recoveries, it will rank among the weaker ones, though the Conservative party will be hoping it provides a lifeline.

That's the view of some economic forecasters - minus the political implications - who say house prices could exceed general inflation, ending a brief 18-month period when stagnant property values made flats and houses marginally more affordable.