Weekly Property News Round Up – 25.05.24

We hope you’re having a good weekend! With the bank holiday here in the UK, the topic of conversation this week has been how the general election will affect the housing market. Many are speculating about potential policy changes and their impact on property prices. It’s a hot topic that has everyone from homeowners to property professionals buzzing.

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Now, let’s have a look at the latest headlines that have caught our eye this week…

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Property news this week:

House prices see first annual rise since June 2023: Average UK house prices rose by 1.8% year-on-year in March, up from -0.2% in February and the first annual increase seen since June 2023, the latest UK House Price Index from the Land Registry shows.

The average UK house price was £283,000 in March, which is £5,000 higher than 12 months ago. Average house prices in the 12 months to March increased by 1.0% in England, 1.3% in Wales, 6.7% in Scotland, and 4.0% in Northern Ireland.

How the General Election will effect house prices in 2024: Overall, we don’t see the election having as big an impact on the housing market as previous years. This is due to there not being a huge divide in policy between the two main parties, with neither having many specifics on housing other than a focus on reforming the private rental sector and boosting housing supply.

However, the number of completed sales may now fall slightly short of the 1.1m we expected for 2024. Businesses and landlords will want to see that political parties have concrete plans – namely for boosting housing supply across all tenures and getting the right reforms to the private rented sector. This will ensure that supply is maintained while giving renters more protections.

Santander and CHL mortgages lower their fixed rates: Santander’s fixed rate changes will come into force on 23 May. On the new business side, selected residential fixed rates will be reduced by between 0.02% and 0.27% for purchases and remortgages. Selected buy-to-let fixed rates will fall by between 0.04% and 0.2% for purchases and remortgages.

For product transfers, selected residential fixed rates will decrease by between 0.03% and 0.14% and selected buy-to-let fixed rates by between 0.05% and 0.12%. CHL Mortgages has reduced rates by 0.21% across its entire buy-to-let range, with standard two-year deals starting from 3.2% and five-year products beginning at 4.55%.

For small houses in multiple occupation product and multi-unit freehold blocks, two-year fixed rates are priced from 3.22% and five-year fixed rates start from 4.62%.

That concludes this week’s key updates. If you have any thoughts or questions about these headlines, feel free to reply—I’d love to chat with you about the latest market trends and discuss your investment goals.

I’ll be back next week with more insights on the property market. Enjoy your weekend!

Tobi Mancuso
Director, Track Capital

Listen to The Pure Property Podcast from Track Capital here