The long period of dormancy for Britain’s housing market looks as if it is coming to an end — though there are huge regional differences.
Central London remains exceptional, with the influx of overseas buyers into Kensington, Chelsea and adjoining neighbourhoods creating a microclimate of surging prices that has little to do with economic fundamentals — and has the political left salivating at the thought of a ‘mansion tax’ on properties worth £2 million-plus, even if that means turfing elderly widows out of family homes.
Some five years on from the financial crisis that brought many lenders and house-builders to their knees, there are signs of a broadly based recovery. The improvement has already led to a sharp rise in builders’ shares and encouraged one of the victims of the financial crisis, Crest Nicholson, to return to the stock market in mid-February. Its shares immediately rose from an issue price of 220 pence to a handsome premium at around 265 pence.
A return to health for Britain’s housing market will be a key element in any wider recovery.
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