UK Housing Market Update How generous is London Help to Buy? In terms of its direct impact on a buyer’s monthly outlays, London Help to Buy appears to be a significantly more generous subsidy than the original equity loan scheme that it supplements. But in... 1st February 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update How will prime central London perform in 2016? Falling oil prices and growing uncertainty about the global economic outlook point to a lacklustre year for prime central London housing. Indeed, having already slowed sharply, prices in the most... 22nd January 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Will 2016 see a sharp correction in house prices? We believe that UK house prices are fundamentally too high. But unless the economy lapses back into recession, triggering a spike in forced selling, a real terms correction, in which prices rise more... 11th January 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update What explains regional differences in rental price growth? Residential rental value growth has accelerated over the course of the year. However, much of this has been driven by the southern regions of England, which in turn seems to fit well with the... 18th December 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Will buy-to-let trigger the next house price crash? Fears that BTL investors will trigger another housing market downturn by selling up en-masse if house prices begin to falter, are at odds with the evidence from the last downturn. Contrary to... 16th December 2015 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Update Autumn Statement 2015: Osborne targets BTL again With little additional detail on business rates, and the Starter Homes Initiative simply a restatement of a policy announced last year, Help to Buy London and the Chancellor’s latest assault on BTL... 25th November 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Action on buy-to-let won’t be heavy handed By the end of the year, the Government is expected to have set out new powers for the Financial Policy Committee over the buy-to-let mortgage market. But the quality of lending to that sector doesn’t... 18th November 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update What has driven the rise in buy-to-let mortgages? The buy-to-let mortgage market has grown quickly over the last few years. But the majority of that growth has come from landlords remortgaging their existing loans, rather than new buyers entering the... 23rd October 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update When will housing starts take the next step to recovery? The government’s aspiration to see a million new homes by 2020 requires housing starts to be 45% higher than current levels. History suggests this is achievable. That said, while they have shown signs... 24th September 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update How much has the fall in mortgage rates supported affordability? Over the past year, falling mortgage interest rates appear to have reduced monthly mortgage payments by more than rising house prices have increased them. This may be one reason why prices have... 18th September 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Mortgage market competition moves up a gear A number of recent developments suggest that, after a protracted period of uncertainty, confidence amongst mortgage lenders is starting to improve again. If this is sustained, the improvement in... 17th September 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Why are homes becoming more expensive to build? Official statistics show that the real cost of constructing a home has essentially doubled over the past 10 years. That could indicate that homes are now much better quality than in the past, but it... 21st August 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Rents have more room to grow in the North At the national level, private rent payments as a share of earnings are currently slightly above their average since records began in 2005. But there are large regional differences. With the rent... 5th August 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Desire to hold on to empty homes pushes up the vacancy rate The rise in the owner-occupier (OO) vacancy rate following the financial crisis indicates significant numbers of people have been holding onto empty homes rather than trying to sell them. But that... 21st July 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Why have house prices in Wales been so weak? Comparatively loose supply conditions appear to explain why house prices in Wales have underperformed the rest of the country over the past year or two. But there are signs that demand is now... 14th July 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Will changes to the planning system give a boost to housebuilding? If giving automatic planning permission to brownfield land helps boost competition in the housebuilding sector, it has the potential to raise housing starts. But encouraging construction on brownfield... 10th July 2015 · 1 min read
