UK Housing Market Blog

This is a site focused on the UK housing market, providing a commentary on events and conditions in the UK housing market.

House Prices Fall at Sharpest Rate for 18 Months
9 November 2010

House prices seem to be falling further and faster, with prices showing their sharpest fall for 18 months in October, as the number of people looking to buy a home fell for the 5th month in a row, and as economic uncertainty and a lack of mortgage finance continues to hurt the housing market.

New Bank Rules Could Shut-Out People from the Mortgage Market
1 November 2010

As a reaction to the credit crunch and past profiligate lending, the FSA is looking at introducing new, stricter mortgage lending guidelines. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has warned that the new guidelines could mean that millions of mortgage holder could be trapped with their current provider, since they would not meet the new lending criteria and would therefore be unable to remortgage with another lender.

The CML warns that over 50% of mortgage holders could be affected, amounting to 11.4 million people. 30% of mortgage holders are likely to be able to borrow less than they actually need as the new rules impose stricter lending limits. For those on fixed rate details that are close to expiry, their only option may be to accept their current lender's standard variable rate.

House Prices Fall
2 September 2010

House prices in in August by 0.9% leading to a sharp decline in the annual house price inflation rate to 8.7%. Further falls in prices are now expected with some economists forecasting falls of 5% this year and a further fall of 10% next year, as economic reality hits people, with the threat of job losses, falling incomes, higher taxes etc all having an impact on house prices.

Mortgage Lending Up
20 July 2010

Mortgage lending was up 15% in June over the previous month. However, tansaction levels are still at a relatively low level with buyers constrained by a lack of available credit.

Meanwhile, lenders are cashing in on 20 year record margins on fixed-rate mortgages, with the average margin reaching 3.11%

Mortgage Lending Subdued
23 March 2010

New figures show that mortgage lending is still subdued with just 35,275 new mortgages approved in February, which was a fraction more than in January.

We're expecting more sellers to enter the housing market in the spring of this year, encouraged by the rise in house price in 2009. A lack of sellers and a rise in demand helped to prop up house prices in 2009 - any increase in the number of houses for sale is likely to keep prices flat at best.

Property Resources
21 March 2010

A few years ago, the Land Registry starting publishing the sale prices of houses in England and Wales making it easier for people A favourite site of ours that displays this data is mouseprice.com a great site, with sold prices, property for sale/rent and area guides.

Google Streetview
19 March 2010

Google has announced that 98% of the UK is now available to via Google Streetview, a service that provides panoramic views from various positions. This is a great resource to use when searching for a house to buy, particularly when you're moving to a new area or different part of the country which you are not familar with. Check is out at http://maps.google.co.uk.