Measuring the Edwardian Property Slump: House Prices and Rents in Residential London, 1895–1914

Abstract The Edwardian property slump was a major housing downturn that affected London before the First World War; however, existing house price indices fail to capture the scale of the decline that occurred during this period. This article uses two novel data sources to construct fresh indices that measure the slump. Capital values declined significantly during the Edwardian era, with nominal house prices falling by 35 percent between 1900 and 1913. Rents, on the other hand, remained relatively stable during this period. The results indicate that the slump was due to a flight of investment capital from the buy-to-let market.