DATA: ONS reported CPI rose 3.0% in the year to Jan 2026
This was lower than the 3.4% reported the previous month as “Transport, and food and non-alcoholic beverages made the largest downward contributions”.
DATA: ONS published UK labour market overview
They report “The early estimate of payrolled employees for January 2026 decreased by 134,000 (0.4%) on the year” and “Annual growth in employees’ average earnings in Great Britain was 4.2% for both regular earnings (excluding bonuses) and total earnings (including bonuses) in October to December 2025”.
DATA: Rightmove reported UK asking prices were unchanged in Feb 2026
They report(PDF) the average asking price was unchanged compared to both the previous month and over the last year. They also report “The number of newly listed properties for sale is just below this time last year (-1%) but 11% higher than two years ago” and “the number of sales agreed is 5% below this time in 2025 but is 9% higher than at this time in 2024”.
DATA: ONS/HMLR reported UK house prices rose 2.4% in year to Dec 2025
They report the average price in Northern Ireland rose by 7.5% while in London it fell by 1.0% during the year.
DATA(PDF): Zoopla reported UK house prices rose 1.3% in year to Jan 2026
They report “Sales agreed have increased sharply but remain 3% below the very strong start to 2025” and “February is on track to record the highest monthly number of new listings in a decade” with “6% more homes for sale than a year ago”.
DATA: ONS reported UK private rents rose 3.5% in year to Jan 2026
They report “In England, private rents annual inflation was highest in the North East (8.0%), and lowest in London (1.1%), in the 12 months to January 2026”.
DATA: HMRC reported 94,680 UK residential transactions in Jan 2026
The seasonally adjusted estimate was 5% lower than the previous month and 0.8% lower than the same month last year. See Chart of the Week for more.
DATA: UKF published later life mortgage lending data for Q4 2025
They report “There were 5,700 new lifetime mortgages advanced in Q4, unchanged from the same quarter a year earlier” and “There were 388 retirement interest only mortgages advanced in Q4, up 13.1 per cent year on year”.
DATA: ONS published indicators of housebuilding
Please note that these statistics undercount actual housebuilding activity and should not be used as an accurate measure for actual delivery.
DATA: ONS published construction statistics for 2024
They report “The value of construction new work in current prices in Great Britain during 2024 increased by 1.4% to £140,684 million; this increase was driven solely by a rise of 6.7% (£2,592 million) in public sector new work as the private sector fell by 0.7% (£688,000)”.
DATA: MHCLG published statutory homelessness stats for England
They report “On 30 September 2025, 134,760 households were in temporary accommodation, which is an increase of 7.0% from 30 September” and “Households with children increased by 6.5% to 85,730”.
DATA: MHCLG published rough sleeping snapshot for England
They report “The number of people estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2025 is 4,793. This is a new record high, exceeding the previous peak of 4,751 in 2017. This is the fourth annual increase in a row, increasing 3% since 2024, and 171% higher than 2010 when the snapshot approach was introduced.”
DATA: Scottish Gov published landlord register data
The number of registered landlords fell by 5,559 in the year to Jan 2026 while the number of registered properties fell by 173 over the same period.
DATA: Scottish Gov published Scottish Housing Condition Survey 2024
They report “In 2024 an estimated 28.7% (around 732,000 households) of all households were in fuel poverty” and “This is lower than the 2023 fuel poverty rate of 33.9% (around 859,000 households)”.
DATA: Financial Market Expectations For BoE’s Bank Rate
The chart provides a summary for the expected future level of Bank Rate based on daily data. The One Year figure was 3.27% on the 25th Feb compared to 3.26% on the 18th Feb.
DATA: New Build Energy Performance Certificates, England
This chart provides a summary of the number of EPCs on new build properties, a useful leading indicator for net additions. The 52-week rolling total was 210,687 for the week commencing 16th Feb, slightly higher than the 210,092 total for the previous week.
POLICY: Homes England opened bidding on the 2026-36 SAHP
The Social and Affordable Homes Programme provides at least £27billion of funding for registered providers.
POLICY: MHCLG launched two funds to tackle homelessness
The two funds are the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund and the Long-Term Rough Sleeping Innovation Programme.
REPORT: Regulator of Social Housing published quarterly survey
They report “Outturn and forecast spend on repairs and maintenance continues to increase with total spend on repairs and maintenance in the quarter at £2.4 billion and 12 months spend to December totalling £9.4 billion, seven per cent higher than the previous year”.
REPORT: Shelter reported on “The Case for Need-Led Housing Policy”
The report “sets out why a ‘trickle down’ approach to housing policy – prioritising private supply at the expense of social housing – cannot fix the affordability crisis and will fail to end the housing emergency” and suggest “That’s why the government must adopt a need-led development model that delivers genuinely affordable social homes so that everyone has a safe, affordable and secure place to call home”.
REPORT: Future of London on looking beyond targets to fix housing
They report “Chasing numbers alone will not meet London’s housing demand unless we focus on the types of homes and neighbourhoods needed to match changing lifestyles” and provide “five priorities for long-term solutions”.
REPORT: Policy Exchange reported on the New Town proposals
The report “reviews the Government’s plans, compares them to historic precedents and established best practice and makes targeted recommendations aimed at maximising the programme’s chances of success”.
REPORT: Common Wealth reported on Home Improvement Corporations
The report proposes to “Transform retrofit delivery from a fragmented, market-based model to one led and managed by local government — via thirty Home Improvement Corporations at the county or mayoral/combined authority level”.
REPORT: GLA reported on housing for disabled Londoners
They report “much of London’s housing stock is not designed to be accessible” and “Disabled Londoners also have a narrower range of housing options than non-disabled residents” which “is partly due to lower incomes and higher costs associated with disability, making much of London’s housing financially inaccessible”.
REPORT: Scottish Land Commission published a policy roadmap
The report “outlines practical actions to widen land ownership, strengthen local decision-making and unlock opportunities for homes, jobs and climate investment across the country”.
REPORT: Rettie reported on the Scottish build-to-rent market
They report “There are now over 5,000 Build to Rent (BTR) homes operating in Scotland and there is a clear potential to get this above 20,000 homes in the next few years”.
REPORT: Savills reported on land supply and the NPPF
They report “Revisions to the NPPF have created a more favourable planning environment, resulting in an 44% increase year on year in the number of residential applications submitted, according to Glenigan data”. They also reported on the demand for development land, with a “mixed” appetite in 2025 continuing into 2026.
REPORT: Knight Frank reported on the development land market
They report “UK residential development land values stabilised in Q4 2025, with early signs that pricing may have reached a floor”.
CORPORATE: Springfield published Interim Results
They report “The reservation rate was slightly lower than the first half of the prior year due to a lengthening of the sales cycle in line with the wider housebuilding industry. This led to increased time and cost to complete sites, which impacted gross margin in private housing during the period”.
CORPORATE: Unite Students published Year End Results
They report “4.0% rental growth and 95.2% occupancy for the 2025/26 academic year (2024/25: 8.2% and 97.5%)” and “68% reserved for 2026/27 (2025/26: 71%), reflecting more cautious booking trends”. They also report “Vacancies were concentrated in three regional cities (Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield)” and “also saw lower occupancy in new buildings or buildings where we delivered large capital projects, which were slower to let in a more competitive leasing environment”.
CORPORATE: Rightmove published Annual Financial Report
They report “Total membership increased marginally, driven by growth in Agency members reflecting both high retention and increased new agent formation” as “Agent formation was the highest on record, as new entrants were encouraged by a more favourable market, aided by lowering interest and mortgage rates” but “New Homes developments’ marginal decrease reflects continued lower levels of new builds coming to market”.
Chart of the Week
The latest HMRC estimate for residential transactions was 5.0% lower in January than the previous month. This follows last month’s Bank of England mortgage approvals for house purchase which were 4.8% lower than the previous month. It remains to be seen whether this is just a temporary effect following the Budget speculation or reflects a weaker underlying housing market than what much of the agent and portal market commentary seems to be suggesting. Monday’s BoE mortgage approval data will be interesting.
