House prices fell 0.2 percent on the month, according to Halifax's monthly index which is often volatile. That slowed the annual rise in prices in the three months to November to 9.0 percent from 9.7 percent growth in October.

A 1.4 percent rise in prices in the three months to November compared with the previous three months was the smallest such increase since December of last year.

Halifax said last week it expected British house price growth to slow to between 4 and 6 percent next year.

However, economic growth, earnings that are rising faster than inflation and very low mortgage rates were boosting demand in a tight market, Halifax housing economist Martin Ellis said.

"The increasingly acute imbalance between supply and demand is causing prices to rise at a robust pace, a situation that is unlikely to reverse significantly in the short-term," he said.

Finance minister George Osborne has said he wants to make it easier for property developers to build houses. Seeking to help people struggling to buy their own homes, he announced last month a tax for investors buying properties to rent them out.

A Reuters poll of housing analysts published last week suggested British home prices will rise 4.3 percent in 2016, slowing from 5.0 percent in 2015.

(Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Andrew Heavens)