The Nationwide Building Society has said that UK house prices edged up by 0.1% in November, though the annual pace of price growth slowed a little, to 3.7% from 3.9% the previous month.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “The annual rate of house price growth has fluctuated in a fairly narrow range between 3% and 4% over the past six months, which is broadly consistent with earnings growth over the longer term.

“While this bodes well for a sustainable increase in housing market activity in the period ahead, much will depend on whether building activity can keep pace with increasing demand.

“Surveyors have continued to report a dearth of properties on the market in recent months, with the number of available homes reportedly at the lowest level since the late 1970s.

“Therefore it is positive that policymakers are focusing on the need to increase home building, with the Chancellor announcing a range of measures aimed at boosting housing supply in his Autumn Statement.

“The current rate of construction activity is well below the projected rate of household formation. Only 135,000 new homes were built in England in the 12 months to September 2015, well below the c220,000 new households that are projected to form each year over the next decade.”