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UK house prices rose at the fastest annual rate for 18 months in February after December’s decisive election buoyed the market, according to Nationwide. The 2.3% annual increase is the best since July 2018, bolstering evidence of a “Boris bounce”. Nationwide's chief economist Robert Gardner said the landslide Tory victory may have pushed buyers back into the market. However, the outlook for house prices will depend on the UK’s economic performance over the coming months, which could take a hit depending on the outcome of Brexit trade talks and the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. “There are still significant uncertainties that threaten to exert a drag on the economy in the coming quarters,” Mr Gardner warned.
The Daily Telegraph (28/02/2020) The Guardian (28/02/2020) The Times (28/02/2020)
Families are taking on huge mortgages in a bid to climb off the first rung of the property ladder and move to a bigger home, according to the Financial Conduct Authority. The number of borrowers taking out mammoth loans that stretch to more than six and a half times their income has soared, the City regulator said. It added that most of these borrowers are home-movers rather than first-time buyers. More than 96,000 mortgages taken out last year were for more than four and a half times the borrower's income, and 4,594 mortgages were for more than six and a half times income.
The Times (28/02/2020)
UK banks approved 70,900 mortgages in January, according to the Bank of England, up 4.4% from December’s 67,930 figure to the highest number in four years. Remortgaging approvals were also up by 3.9%, to around 52,100. Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: “As a result, we now think that the Bank of England will cut bank rates to 0.5% this month, from 0.75%. The recovery in approvals likely has further to run.”
The Daily Telegraph (02/03/2020)
The number of house sales rose 5.2% in a year, with 102,810 transactions completed in January – a 4.1% jump between December and January, according to the latest figures from HMRC. The data also show an increase in transactions of non-residential properties, with some 11,170 commercial properties sold in January, 10.7% higher than in January last year – the highest volume of commercial property sales and the biggest monthly rise in almost 12 years.HMRC pointed out that January's figures reflect sales agreed in September and October, and Jeremy Leaf, a former RICS residential chairman said “if the [numbers] are like this now, they are set to be even stronger as we approach the peak spring-buying season.”
Daily Mail (21/02/2020)
Accelerate My Mortgage allows homeowners to speed up the repayment of their mortgage by shopping at selected retailers. When a customer makes a purchase from a retailer after first being directed through the Accelerate My Mortgage website, a percentage of their total spend is sent as an overpayment to their mortgage lender. The free service so far has 45 retail partners, including Marks & Spencer, Boots and John Lewis.
The Sunday Times (23/02/2020)
The UK housing gap - the difference between the current housing stock and the number needed for everyone to have a decent home to live in - is 1.2m homes, according to the BBC Housing Briefing. Its calculations suggest it will take at least 15 years at current building rates to close the gap, and that not enough of what is being built is affordable. The Affordable Housing Commission found that more than half of 18 to 24-year-olds live with family, and 18% are still doing so as 25 to 34-year-olds. The MHCLG said: "Since 2010 this government has delivered over 464,000 new affordable homes. In addition, the social housing waiting list has decreased by 40% since 2012.”
BBC News (23/02/2020)