THE cost of home has grown at its slowest annual rate since 2013, according to Nationwide's House Price Index.

Annual house price growth slowed to 0.5 per cent in 2018, the weakest pace since February 2013, according to the quarterly report by the Swindon-based building society.

Although there were regional differences, prices fell by 0.8 per cent in London and by 1 per cent in outer London in the last quarter of 2018.

Nationwide's chief economist Robert Gardner said the slowdown was not unexpected, given the current uncertainty.

“Near term prospects will be heavily dependent on how quickly this uncertainty lifts," he said. "Ultimately the outlook for the housing market and house prices will be determined by the performance of the wider economy – especially the labour market.

“The economic outlook is unusually uncertain. If the economy continues to grow at a modest pace, with the unemployment rate and borrowing costs remaining close to current levels, we would expect UK house prices to rise at a low single-digit pace in 2019."

The average price of a house in the south west is currently £244,304.