LONDON, Nov 15 Reuters British house prices fell in annual terms in September for the first time since 2012 and rents rose sharply last month, official data showed on Wednesday, underlining the weak state of the housing market.

House prices decreased by 0.1 in the year to September, the Office for National Statistics ONS, the first annual fall since April 2012, after a 0.8 increase in August.

Prices in London declined 1.1.

Britain39;s housing market, which boomed during the COVID19 pandemic, has been hit by higher borrowing costs as the Bank of England battles the highest rate of inflation among large advanced economies.

Mortgage lenders Halifax and Nationwide both reported house prices continued to decline in annual terms in October, although prices rose slightly on a monthly basis.

The ONS39;s gauge of private rents rose by 6.1 in the 12 months to October, the biggest annual increase since data collection started in 2016 and up from 5.7 in September.

Separate figures from the Ministry of Justice last week showed the number of nofault eviction claims in England surged to the highest in more than seven years.

Nofault eviction claims, which allow landlords to end tenancies without giving specific reason and go to court when tenants refuse to leave voluntarily, jumped 38 in the three months to September from the same period last year.

While nofault evictions were barred during the pandemic, The Renters Reform bill, legislation aimed at imposing a permanent ban, has…