House prices in south west London have sky-rocketed in the last year, outstripping London as a whole with price rises of up to 22 per cent.

The average house in Wandsworth sold for £390,746 in September according to the latest figures from the Land Registry published on Friday - a rise of 21.9 per cent on September 2006.

Richmond saw a rise of 19.8 per cent with the average property there selling for a whopping £442,593. Even the average flat in Richmond was worth £308,956.

The London-wide average price increase in the last year was 16.5 per cent. The England and Wales average lagged far behind with 8.7 per cent growth, proving that once again London and the south west of the capital are the most desirable and expensive places to live in the country.

Lambeth saw a 20.1 per cent leap to an average property price of £349,899, and Merton also managed a jump of 19 per cent to an average value of £246,156.

Only Sutton and Croydon's price increases were behind the London average, with Sutton managing 13.5 per cent growth to £261,012, and Croydon rising by 11.5 per cent to an average £276,613.

The average cost of a property in England and Wales stands at £183,896 in comparison.

The Land Registry's monthly House Price Index is published at landregistry.gov.uk/houseprices, and individual postcode searches are available.