Property News · May 10, 2018

Implications of the property price fall | Letters


Kevin Gulliver and Peter Fiddick respond to the news that house prices have fallen; while Mike Pollard writes about the reduction in quality of life for all urban dwellers with population over-densityLarry Elliott (Opinion, 10 May) rightly welcomes a small fall in house prices reported by the Halifax. Greater housing market affordability promotes social mobility, helps young people get on the property ladder, and is beneficial to the economy. However, we need to inject a note of caution. House price figures from banks or building societies are only based on their own segments of the housing market. We have to wait for the publication of Land Registry data, which lag behind the headlines, before real house price trends can be uncovered.The small decline in house prices also needs to be placed within recent historical context. The average house price is now 7.9 times average earnings (9.1 times for newly built homes). To return to levels of housing affordability last seen 20 years ago, house prices would need to halve. Finally, the UK economy, economic wellbeing, and some elements of the welfare state are so linked to rising house prices, governments will tend to apply policy approaches that keep the housing market buoyant. A managed and ongoing reduction in house prices is desirable, but the consequences of rising numbers in negative equity and the deleterious effects on social services need to be considered too.Kevin GulliverOperational director, Human City Institute Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
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