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
UK Housing Market Update Why has the FLS not helped bring down SVRs? The Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS), alongside other interventions, has helped bring down both long and short-term wholesale funding costs. But to date lenders have only passed these savings through... 17th January 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Will the pent-up demand for housing be unleashed soon? The latest survey on household finances from the Bank of England paints a fairly bleak picture of potential first-time buyers’ finances. And with the average deposit required by lenders still... 20th December 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Could 2013 bring a positive surprise to the housing market? The housing market could benefit from a number of positive surprises in 2013. In particular, two thatspring to mind are an acceleration of the take-up of the Funding for Lending Scheme, and ongoing... 14th December 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Taxing high-value property – will it make London uncompetitive? An annual charge on some owners of residential property worth over £2m is unlikely to have a material impact on London’s competitiveness. The main impact will be to lower the price of those homes... 5th December 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update First look at the impact of the Funding for Lending Scheme It’s still early days, but the first set of data for the uptake of the Funding for Lending Scheme are underwhelming. Only six of the 35 institutions signed-up had borrowed any money by the end of... 3rd December 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Outlook for housebuilding still bleak The tick-up in housebuilding starts in the third quarter is likely to be a blip. With builders increasingly viewing their current stock of homes as more than adequate to meet expected demand, they... 19th November 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update How effective are Government schemes in supporting new-build? The steady stream of schemes designed to help prospective homeowners buy a new home is helping to underpin new-build sales. But there is no evidence that these schemes are acting as a catalyst for a... 14th November 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Will the Mortgage Market Review lead to more remortgaging? The new ‘transitional arrangements’ included in the finalised Mortgage Market Review are to be welcomed, as they will help prevent ‘mortgage prisoners’ being unfairly treated by their existing lender... 25th October 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Are mortgage borrowers deleveraging? Despite a sharp rise in the household saving ratio, there is no evidence that households are proactively reducing the size of their mortgage debt. Deleveraging will be a long, drawn-out affair. 22nd October 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Has lenders’ forbearance reached a limit? Lenders' willingness to agree new payment plans for struggling mortgage borrowers seems undiminished. But the prolonged nature of the recession appears to have taken its toll on the ability of... 17th October 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update How will we know if the Funding for Lending Scheme is working? It is far too early to make a robust assessment of the impact of the Funding for Lending Scheme. But the spreads over wholesale funding costs that lenders charge on mortgages will be a key indicator... 21st September 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Stamp duty – What impact has the 7% rate had? Early indications are that the introduction of a 7% stamp duty rate on property valued at £2m or more has had no detrimental impact on activity in this market segment. Indeed for this part of the... 19th September 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Is past exuberance still holding back housebuilding? Today’s announcement of a raft of new policy measures designed to boost housebuilding and revitalise the economy are a welcome development. But, over-optimistic expectations during the boom have left... 6th September 2012 · 1 min read
