London house-price inflation slowed to to its lowest level for the first time in more than two years in April, reflecting uncertainty about property taxes in the buildup to the general election last month.

Annual house-price growth in London slowed to 4.3 per cent from 11.2 percent, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday.

That’s the smallest increase since October 2012. The sharp slowdown in London dragged national house-price inflation lower, with UK prices rising 5.5 percent in April.

That’s down from 9.6 percent in March and marked the slowest rate of growth since December 2013. While the ONS didn’t specifically cite the election, property companies including Rightmove have said that concern about potential levies on the most expensive homes dampened activity in London in recent months.

There have been signs of a rebound since the May 7th vote, with asking prices surging in June.

There was also a slowdown in price growth in Scotland to 2.2 per cent in April from 14.6 in March, according to the ONS data.

Demand there was skewed by the introduction of a new transaction tax on land and buildings on April 1st, which replaced stamp duty. - Bloomberg