Rents increase but not as much as ONS says and Zoopla says rental growth to fall to 5% https://www.goodlord.co/newsagent/goodlord-rental-index https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9rrx74vy5xo HMRC Housing Transaction Volumes fall 9% in April from March https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/monthly-property-transactions-completed-in-the-uk-with-value-40000-or-above/uk-monthly-property-transactions-commentary–2 Nigel Farage enters election, changing the likely shape of the future House of Commons https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/jun/03/conservatives-equality-act-labour-general-election-campaign-uk-politics-live-3-june Labour announces FTB scheme. But it’s nothing new. https://labour.org.uk/updates/stories/labour-party-homes-policy-how-we-will-keep-mortgage-rates-low-and-help-first-time-buyers-with-a-new-freedom-to-buy-scheme/… Continue reading Five Fact Friday 7th June 2024. FFS.
Category: Blog
UK Political Parties Ranked on Housing Priority.
Political Parties Website 2024 Housing Manifestos – I have not compared policies, I’ve just looked at how much care and attention has been given by each party to the topic of housing. First Place: Lib Dem Housing Policy (last updated Sept 2023) https://www.libdems.org.uk/conference/motions/autumn-2023/f31 Second Place: Worker Party Manifesto contains the word ‘housing’ 19 times. https://workerspartybritain.org/manifesto-britain-deserves-better/… Continue reading UK Political Parties Ranked on Housing Priority.
Housing Politics is about who can deliver the least bad outcome.
We are in the housing mess we’re in for one reason bigger than all the others put together: Politics. NOTHING has a bigger impact on the housing market than politics. Nothing else comes close. Consider the shocking state of our housing industry, spiralling rents, mortgage payments and affordability nightmares. 100% of these situations are a… Continue reading Housing Politics is about who can deliver the least bad outcome.
Bring out the Stig.
5 Fact Friday 31 May 2024 Leasehold Reform Bill Passed https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2024/may/leasehold-and-freehold-reform-bill–completes-final-stages-and-becomes-law Nationwide HPI reports house price increase https://www.nationwidehousepriceindex.co.uk/resources/px24m-0qca4-6f5ur-t8ucc-hf0ou Zoopla House Price Index – Supply at 8 year high https://assets.ctfassets.net/02vwvgr6spsr/4sHzGQN1lF7UlfgJRxDBLt/f533e04da53ce7a53654714310b53e8e/HPI_April_2024_final.pdf Bank of England shows highest mortgage approvals since mini-budget https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/boeapps/database/fromshowcolumns.asp?Travel=NIxSUx&FromSeries=1&ToSeries=50&DAT=RNG&FD=1&FM=Jan&FY=2020&TD=31&TM=Dec&TY=2024&FNY=&CSVF=TT&html.x=121&html.y=35&C=10Z&Filter=N Eurozone Inflation higher than forecast – doubts on rate cuts https://www.ft.com/content/566c85f0-8a76-421b-a9b1-a20471363cff https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/euro-zone-inflation-rises-just-ecb-prepares-cut-rates-2024-05-31 Leasehold Reform Summary: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/leasehold-reforms-become-law#:~:text=The%20Act%20%E2%80%93%20which%20has%20officially,more%20security%20in%20their%20home.
It’s General Election time! 5 Fact Friday
5 Fact Friday – 24th May 2024 Headline CPI Inflation down not as far as hoped to 2.3% but Owner Occupier Housing inflation up to 6.6% https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/consumerpriceinflation/april2024 BoE Rate Cut now not expected until September earliest. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-22/pound-rallies-traders-pare-bets-on-rate-cuts-after-uk-inflation Yearly change in Average UK “House Prices” [sic] turns positive in April 2024 for the first time since… Continue reading It’s General Election time! 5 Fact Friday
Wages up, mortgage rates down 🎉 (right?)
5 Fact Friday – 17th May 2024 – 5 Facts hitting UK housing hardest Real Wages rise again, but more slowly https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/averageweeklyearningsingreatbritain/may2024 Unemployment rises, job vacancies fall, again https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/employmentintheuk/may2024 Britain is officially the worlds worst in homelessness Why Britain is the world’s worst on homelessness Agent Regulation Abandoned after 5 years 3 banks cut mortgage… Continue reading Wages up, mortgage rates down 🎉 (right?)
It’s getting harder to sell your home.
5FF 10th May 2024 Brit Retail Consortium Figures show Retail sales fell 4% in April https://brc.org.uk/news/corporate-affairs/dismal-weather-disappointing-sales-1/ Housing Ladder Broken – Building Society Report. https://www.bsa.org.uk/getmedia/e1daa383-54e1-4544-8545-2f4aa835aa74/BSA-First-Time-Buyers-Report-2024-(Interactive-Single-Page)-(1).pdf London Stock Exchange Red Flag Report Failing Businesses https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/BEG/latest-red-flag-alert-report-for-q1-2024/16441805 RICS April Survey: Stock Levels Climb, buying interest levels off https://www.rics.org/content/dam/ricsglobal/documents/market-surveys/uk-residential-market-survey/UK-Residential-Market-Survey_April-2024.pdf Bank of England Base Rate held at 5.25% https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy-summary-and-minutes/2024/may-2024 Left out:… Continue reading It’s getting harder to sell your home.
House prices facing long term decay?
5 Fact Friday 3 May 2024 March Mortgage approvals rise https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics/money-and-credit/2024/march-2024 April Nationwide Index Price Falls -0.4% https://www.nationwidehousepriceindex.co.uk/reports/april-sees-slowing-in-annual-house-price-growth BoE Net Lending continues to contract https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/boeapps/database/fromshowcolumns.asp?Travel=NIxSUx&FromSeries=1&ToSeries=50&DAT=RNG&FD=1&FM=Jan&FY=2014&TD=31&TM=Dec&TY=2024&FNY=&CSVF=TT&html.x=111&html.y=29&C=KN2&Filter=N House Price Decay may be a long term trend as real values have fallen 11% already https://www.newstatesman.com/business/2024/05/housing-market-house-price-crash EPCs often wrong, need overhaul – Which? Probate delays rising
1.1 million in mortgage arrears – 5 Fact Friday 26 April
Rightmove index misleads again. 20% more homes for sale than a year ago. Zoopla https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-13337013/amp/Homes-sale-five-year-high-says-Zoopla-house-prices-fall.html 1.1m in mortgage arrears https://www.mpamag.com/uk/mortgage-industry/market-trends/492000-borrowers-at-risk-of-missing-payments/486603 Mortgage rates rise back above 6% Homeowner pain as mortgages soar above 6pc again https://archive.ph/2024.04.25-164328/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/property/mortgages/mortgage-rates-soar-above-6pc-homeowners-pain/ US Economy growth falters despite rising wages Section 21 Eviction Notice Abolition Delayed https://theindependentlandlord.com/section-21-abolition/
Rightmove’s monopoly must be ended for the sake of everyone in the housing market.
House price propaganda, over-inflated house price indices and endless talking up the market at a local level are all leading to widespread seller expectations being too high. This is not usually the seller’s fault, it’s what the industry and media are telling them (although there are some who are clearly delusional, wanting more than even… Continue reading Rightmove’s monopoly must be ended for the sake of everyone in the housing market.