House price growth has halved as the Middle East conflict pushes up mortgage costs, lender the Halifax said. Prices rose by an average 0.4% nationally year-on-year in April, a slowdown from 0.8% in March. Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages at the Halifax, explained: “After a strong start to the year, recent global developments have added a greater degree of uncertainty to the outlook. In particular, higher energy prices have fed into inflation expectations, prompting markets to reassess the path