It builds on gains of 1.4%  in both July and August.

The latest rise left house prices broadly in line with where they were a year ago, making September the first month in which annual house price inflation has not been negative since March 2008.

Property prices have now increased by 3.8% during the past three months, compared with the previous three-month period, the biggest increase on this measure for five years.

They are also 4.1% than they were at the start of the year, although they are still 13.5% below their October 2007 peak.

However the building society warned that house prices were unlikely to continue to increase at their current rate, particularly due to the ongoing problems in the mortgage market and rising unemployment.