Category: Property Market

Back in 2015, the Bank of England, using a set of stress tests to assess the effectiveness of banks in the event of a financial crisis, expressed concern towards the UK buy-to-let market, which informed the decision that year to limit residential mortgages worth more than 4.5 times the holder’s income.  Yet the most recent stress test, published in...

With the Bank of England holding interest rates for the fifth consecutive time at 5.25% last month, speculation concerning the state of the housing market continues to be had as we head into spring. Despite the fact that interest rates increased to levels not observed since 2008, industry analysts are impressed with the current stability...

Cast your mind back to late 2022. Things looked bleak. The Government’s autumn mini-budget had tanked the UK economy and most property pundits were certain it was a case of ‘how far’ rather than ‘if’ house prices would fall. It wasn’t unusual at the time to see gloomy predictions of 10-15% drops and a property sector in meltdown. Price...

You’ll rarely meet anyone who claims to enjoy a UK winter. The cold season might be a time of festivities but it’s also a period of freezing temperatures, all-pervasive gloom and, usually, endless rain. However, were you to ask the average conveyancer whether the onset of winter materially affects the housing market – beyond the...

After a long, difficult winter and not much easier summer, some of the worst fears about the UK economy are beginning to ease. According to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Britain’s economy now looks like it’s set to dodge a full-blown recession by the skin of its teeth. The economy is now on course...

Debates about housing policy are rarely riveting affairs. But, if you’ve been paying any attention at all, you can’t have failed to notice the almighty row raging over the leasehold system.  Housing Secretary Micheal Gove had initially pledged to abolish the leasehold system in January this year. However, this promise was met with stiff resistance from...

It’s not an exaggeration to say London’s rental market is in crisis. Renting in London has reached a new nadir, transforming from a ‘sometimes unpleasant’ experience to something close to a nightmare. Rents across the capital rose 17% in 2022. To put that in context, Rightmove’s Rental Price Tracker revealed that the average monthly cost of...

The last time you heard from us, things were looking bleak. January’s deep dive was packed with gloomy predictions about double-digit price falls and a slowdown in transaction numbers. However, two months is a long time in conveyancing and things are looking a little brighter as we head towards the end of March. After five...

2022 was a turbulent year in almost every way imaginable. From geopolitics to the UK economy, this year will go down as a nadir, even after the trials of COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021. However, for most of the year, the housing market was a rare source of good news for anyone working within conveyancing....