Residential Property Review – March 2023

Spring Budget – ‘trailblazer’ deals announced In the Spring Budget on 15 March, as part of the Levelling Up White Paper, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced ‘trailblazer’ deals giving new and deeper devolution powers to local leaders in the Greater Manchester and West Midlands Combined Authorities. For the first time outside of London, local leaders will […]

Residential Property Review – January 2023

Housing market slowing but far from stopped Supply and demand both fell in November 2022, according to the latest UK Residential Survey from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), though sales completions remained high for the month. Transactions rose by 2.9% in November, although this is likely to include many mortgage agreements from before […]

Residential Property Review – December 2022

Demand drops amid economic uncertainty Activity is weakening across the sales market, according to the latest UK Residential Survey from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), which points to a challenging year ahead. The headline net balance for new buyer enquiries was -38% in November, a seventh successive negative monthly reading. Similarly, new sales […]

Residential Property Review – November 2022

More Stamp Duty changes in Autumn Statement Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement on 17 November left housing out of the limelight, though it did include a commitment to keep the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) changes announced in the ‘mini-budget’ – for now. In September, then-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng increased the nil-rate threshold of SDLT to […]

Residential Market Review – October 2022

Mortgage turmoil shakes housing market A turbulent economic and political month has dramatically altered the outlook for the UK housing market. The government’s ‘mini-budget’, announced on 23rd September, caused interest rate expectations to soar, which led to lenders rapidly withdrawing products. A third of mortgage deals disappeared overnight on 27th September; within a fortnight, 43% […]

Residential Property Review – September 2022

Strong monthly transactions but slowing activity ahead  Latest data from the UK housing market presents a mixed picture, with dwindling demand and limited supply contrasting markedly with strong transaction figures.  Homebuyer demand remains above average, Zoopla pointed out. Yet analysts expect demand to weaken in coming months as more households feel the cost-of-living squeeze, a […]