Category: Blog

5 Fact Friday – 6 June 2025

The five facts hitting the UK housing market hardest in the last 7 days. Bank of England Mortgage Approvals drop back downhttps://www.bankofengland.co.uk/boeapps/database/fromshowcolumns.asp?Travel=NIxSUx&FromSeries=1&ToSeries=50&DAT=RNG&FD=1&FM=Jan&FY=2020&TD=2&TM=Jun&TY=2025&FNY=&CSVF=TT&html.x=187&html.y=29&C=10Z&Filter=N Half of landlords to raise rents in advance of Renters Rights Billhttps://thenegotiator.co.uk/news/rental-market/nearly-half-of-landlords-to-raise-rent-ahead-of-renters-rights-bill/ Labour’s Stamp Duty increase Causes biggest drop in transactions on record.https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-06-04/labour-taxes-ice-london-s-housing-market Leasehold reform to be delayed further?Commons debate offers little progress… Continue reading 5 Fact Friday – 6 June 2025

5 Fact Friday – 30 May 2025

The five facts hitting the UK housing market hardest in the last 7 days. IFA magazine cites major housing crisis indicators worsening https://ifamagazine.com/10-years-on-britains-housing-crisis-deepens-leasehold-and-stamp-duty-concerns-soar-and-aspiration-to-own-hits-rock-bottom/ Small housebuilders to get big planning boost https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-27/uk-to-cut-planning-hurdles-for-small-builders-in-housing-push https://thenegotiator.co.uk/news/regulation-law-news/angela-rayner-pledges-to-level-the-playing-field-for-smaller-house-builders/Average home selling for 16k less than asking https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/may/28/uk-homeowners-selling-less-asking-price-survey-zooplaZoopla House Price Index https://www.zoopla.co.uk/discover/property-news/house-price-index/Prize winning overvaluing by Foxtons https://www.foxtons.co.uk/properties-for-sale/se8/mwhl0340958 Treasury publishes mortgage guarantee scheme stats… Continue reading 5 Fact Friday – 30 May 2025

House Price Drop Cover Up: 5 Fact Friday – 23 May 2025

The five facts hitting the UK housing market hardest in the last 7 days. Bank of England warns no more rate cutshttps://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/interest-rates-rise-inflation-bank-of-england-b2754327.html Rightmove indicates weakening asking priceshttps://www.rightmove.co.uk/news/content/uploads/2025/05/Rightmove-HPI-19th-May-Final-No-Embargo.pdf 27% rise in complaints against agentshttps://thenegotiator.co.uk/news/regulation-law-news/significant-rise-in-complaints-about-estate-agents-revealed/ Inflation rises due to energy cost increaseshttps://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/consumerpriceinflation/april2025 Government borrowing overshoots againhttps://x.com/moving_charlie/status/1925449993231413308?s=46 Net migration drops 50%https://x.com/ons/status/1925469548678975580?s=46Stock surge causes increase in price reductionshttps://www.propertyinvestortoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2025/05/price-reductions-increase-as-housing-market-suffers-supply-surge/

Government Stimulus Caused Housing Affordability Crisis.

Estimating the portion of the rise in nominal UK house prices from 2008 to 2023 attributable to artificial government stimulus—such as Help to Buy, quantitative easing (QE), and ultra-low interest rates (below inflation)—is complex due to the interplay of multiple factors, including supply constraints, population growth, and market dynamics. While no single study isolates the… Continue reading Government Stimulus Caused Housing Affordability Crisis.

Foxtons fails 77% of its sellers, says AI research.

– Research suggests Foxtons and Dexters, major UK estate agents, have success rates of about 22-25%, selling only 22-25 homes for every 100 listed, far below the industry average of 50-60%. – It seems likely that their practice of overvaluing properties by 20-30% to secure exclusive contracts leads to many homes not selling, potentially costing… Continue reading Foxtons fails 77% of its sellers, says AI research.

Not a valuation

Charlie Lamdin answers a journalist’s questions. Q: Do you know of certain estate agents who over-value properties? Yes, most agents are reluctantly forced into over-valuing, because of the worst-offending, large agents who do it to extremes. London’s two largest agents are among the worst offenders, evidenced by the number of properties they never sell. Hint: “Dextons”… Continue reading Not a valuation

Mortgage wars, falling rents, the week in housing.

5FF – 23 Aug 2024 House values are currently at 2003 levels. Nationwide.  https://rationanalytics.com/uk/house-prices-inflation-adjusted Rightmove Average Asking Prices fall between £700 and £15,000 in August https://www.rightmove.co.uk/news/content/uploads/2024/08/Rightmove-HPI-19th-August-Final.pdf Rents Start Falling https://www.zoopla.co.uk/discover/property-news/rents-start-falling-in-major-cities Rachel Reeves the Rent Raiser Mortgage rate cutting war hots up https://www.standard.co.uk/business/mortgage-price-war-nationwide-hsbc-natwest-b1177737.html

Weekly housing market update 16th August 2024

5 Fact Friday 16 August 2024 Rayner scraps Tory plans to prioritise British citizens for social housing https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/08/10/angela-rayner-social-housing-migrants-drop-restrictions Q2 Mortgage claims for possession jump 34% from the same quarter in 2023. https://www.introducertoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2024/8/dramatic-rise-for-mortgage-possession-claims–government-data Monthly jobless claimant count spikes to highest level since 2009 https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/uklabourmarket/august2024 National average time for sellers to find a buyer rises to 72… Continue reading Weekly housing market update 16th August 2024

A mixed bag for housing – 5FF 9 August

Five Fact Friday 9 August 2024 Bloomberg reports signs of a house price recovery  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-08-08/there-are-tentative-signs-of-a-uk-house-price-recovery Halifax average purchase price of its mortgage business rises 2% year on year  https://www.halifax.co.uk/assets/pdf/july-2024-halifax-house-price-index.pdf RICS says “outlook brightening” https://www.rics.org/news-insights/market-surveys/uk-residential-market-survey Zoopla “20 minute offer” survey article  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/credj9geenno Persimmon New Build Forecast Improves Link to Zoopla boss’s post on the end of… Continue reading A mixed bag for housing – 5FF 9 August