Better news for landlords:

UK house prices are set to soar over the next 30 years while the average income won't keep pace, putting home ownership out of reach of millions.

Professor David Miles, a former member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, says the shortage of housing and a restriction on the availability of land in the UK will mean house prices keep spiralling upwards for decades to come. Speaking at an event in Westminster this week, Miles revealed analysis showing that “extraordinary” house price inflation over the past 30 years was likely to continue for the next 30 years. Worse, he warned that median salaries in the UK were unlikely to keep pace with rocketing house prices, putting home ownership even further out of reach for aspiring buyers.

UK house prices have not just gone up relative to the price of things we buy but also relative to incomes. Whichever way you cut it, it's been an extraordinary period of rising house prices.

The big question is can we expect the next 40 to 50 years to look like the last 30 to 40: house prices rising for a sustained period into the future? Many people think it is very possible.

House prices have risen from an average of £9,767 in 1973 to £205,936 today according to figures from Nationwide. Average salaries meanwhile have risen from £2,170 in 1973 to £28,200 in 2016, according to estimates from the Office for National Statistics. This means that on average people needed 4.5 times their salary in the late 1970s to buy a home while today, they need 7.3 times.

This news will come as a welcome change for landlords who of late have had nothing but bad news.