The UK House Price Index (UK HPI) has been designated as a National Statistic by the Office for Statistics Regulation.

The independent regulator has judged that the statistics provide the highest levels of ‘trustworthiness, quality and value’.

The UK HPI is the only official measure of UK house prices, helping to inform government, the housing industry and buyers on the state of the sector. It includes complete coverage of all transactions in the UK housing market and includes average prices across UK regions, differences in property types and the method of purchase.

Mike Hardie, head of prices for ONS, said: “This announcement is a testament to the hard work of ONS and its partners, the UK HPI has become the gold standard in measuring UK house prices. We are building on this success by leading on plans to develop new and innovative ways to collect and analyse housing data.”

Graham Farrant, chief executive and chief land registrar at HM Land Registry, added: “This is excellent news – it is our first National Statistic and reflects recognition of the integrity of our data.

“The UK HPI uses housing market data to provide a transparent view of the housing market. This ensures the UK HPI data is robust and statistically relevant for the variety of industries that use it and it aligns with our ambition to be world’s leading land registry for speed, simplicity and an open approach to data.”