UK Housing Market Update Has housebuilding finally turned a corner? A recovery in housebuilding is long overdue and although we suspect that it may not be as strong as it appears at first sight, encouragingly, there are now signs that it may finally be underway. 10th June 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Weak net lending is a brake on the housing market Mortgage approvals have increased marginally in recent months, helped by Government interventions. But that increase has been achieved with virtually no rise in net mortgage lending. Thus in aggregate... 4th June 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Will mortgage interest rates fall further? With the base rate at 0.5% and wholesale funding rates at around 2%, it seems clear that mortgage interest rates can continue to fall. But the desire to raise capital, and concerns over what will... 24th May 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Buy-to-let lending will not be main beneficiary from FLS extension The extension of the Funding for Lending Scheme to include mortgage and housing credit corporations has led to some concerns that the buy-to-let sector will be the main beneficiary. But the link to... 25th April 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Is demand from buy-to-let investors about to boom? According to a recent survey, letting agents think that more landlords are currently buying property than at any time since the height of the buy-to-let (BTL) lending boom in late 2006. But landlords... 23rd April 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Who is benefitting from the Funding for Lending Scheme? The Funding for Lending Scheme was designed with the purpose of boosting new lending to firms and households. Although the impact on lending has been rather modest, at least in terms of the housing... 18th April 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Contradictory evidence on impact of 7% stamp duty rate Evidence on the impact of the new 7% stamp duty rate on activity in the £2m+ homes market is contradictory. Data from the Land Registry shows that transactions have held up. But agents report a... 12th April 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Forecast change The Chancellor’s ‘Help to Buy’ scheme is likely to provide some additional support to average house prices, over and above that already coming from the Funding for Lending scheme. We have amended our... 21st March 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Budget 2013 helps to keep house prices inflated We doubt many first-time buyers will be celebrating ‘Help to Buy’. Most just want to see house prices fall. But by saddling them with more mortgage debt, that is an outcome this policy will help... 20th March 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Will prime central London house prices continue to outperform? Interest in prime central London property may be waning, with improved sentiment in the euro-zone and poor rental yields both weighing on demand. Further large price gains are therefore unlikely, but... 15th March 2013 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Budget 2013 – Can the Chancellor kick-start homebuilding? Further measures to boost homebuilding will reportedly form part of next week’s Budget. But past attempts have had little success. So what more could the Chancellor do, and with what effect? 13th March 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update The FLS is giving smaller lenders a helping hand Smaller mortgage lenders are continuing to take market share from the established big lenders. Primarily, this reflects most big lenders consciously reducing the size of their mortgage books after... 5th March 2013 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Funding for Lending Scheme not boosting lending yet The second set of data on the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) suggested that take-up of the scheme is increasing, but that lending is not yet rising as a result. 4th March 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Do we really need 240,000 new homes a year? Claims that we need 240,000 new homes a year are based on household projections which have significantly underestimated average household size. The provisional 2011 Census results strongly suggest... 20th February 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update What does the depreciation of sterling mean for prime London property? The slight drop in the value of sterling in recent months has reduced the value of prime London property held by overseas buyers. But with the euro-zone crisis only contained, rather than solved, we... 24th January 2013 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Update Finally, permission-free conversions set to be allowed Two years after the initial proposal, and having appeared to have gone cold on the idea in the meantime, the Government finally looks set to allow permission-free conversions of commercial property... 22nd January 2013 · 1 min read
