George Franks, co-founder of London-based estate agents, Radstock Property said the low levels of home building in the UK can only insulate the housing market from any predicted sharp price falls.
He said: “In the twelve months to March 2020, before the pandemic got a grip on the economy, the number of houses being built in England barely increased on the previous year.
“Until the country builds more homes more quickly, it’s hard to see property prices falling sharply, whatever happens to the economy in the months and years ahead.”
Government figures reflect the relaxation of national restrictions in 2020 with 35,710 starts from July to September, which is an uplift of 111 per cent. The number of completions was 45,000 over the same period, an 185 per cent increase on the previous quarter.
Iain McKenzie, CEO of The Guild of Property Professionals, said: “The sharp increase in the number of dwellings started and completed between July and September last year is not a reason to celebrate but a simple reflection of the country emerging from the first national lockdown.
“The negligible one per cent increase in the number of net additional dwellings in the year to March 2020, before the pandemic struck, underlines the ongoing housing supply issue England is facing.”
Victoria Hartley is contributing editor at Mortgage Solutions, Specialist Lending Solutions, Your Money and Your Mortgage at London-based publishing company AE3 Media.
She has an MA in Radio from Goldsmiths after gaining a 2:1 in a Comparative American Studies BA at Warwick University. She also holds a TEFL qualification and taught overseas in Mexico and Japan from 1994 to 1997.
Her role includes editorial oversight of the news, analysis and features, event content management and strategic and editorial consultancy for the AE3 Media group. She is an experienced video, broadcast and live-event host and regularly chairs web and podcast debates and interviews.
Multiple award nominations have resulted in two wins: Santander Media Awards, trade journalist of the year and Headlinemoney Awards, mortgage journalist of the year (B2B). Here is one of the award-winning pieces: https://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/news/2011/07/21/exclusive-tale-bailey-fraud-witness/
Previous roles include editorships of Mortgage Solutions, consumer title What Mortgage and trade title Credit Today as well as a stint freelancing for a variety of outlets including The Guardian and Which? Money.
