DATA: Halifax reported UK house prices rose 2.9% in year to Feb 2025
The annual rate was unchanged from last month and they report(PDF) “Most areas of the UK saw a slowdown in house price inflation in February” with the most notable exception of “which saw annual growth increase to +3.8% compared to +2.5% in January”.
DATA: BoE reported 66,189 mortgage approvals for purchase in Jan 2025
This was 0.5% lower than the previous month but similar to the pre-pandemic average of 66,283 for 2014 to 2019. Approvals for remortgage were 8.9% higher than last year.
DATA: ONS published quoted mortgage rates for Feb 2025
The average quoted two-year fixed-rate at 75% loan-to-value increased slightly to 4.66% (previously 4.64%) while the average revert-to-rate fell from 7.46% to 7.33%.
DATA: BoE published effective mortgage rates for Jan 2025
They report the average rate on new advances (purchase and remortgage) was 4.52%, slightly higher than the 4.48% reported for December. The average rate on outstanding balances also increased, to 3.82% from 3.80% the previous month.
DATA: VOA published Local Reference Rents for Jan and Feb 2025
The releases provide Local reference rent levels for broad rental market areas (BRMAs by number of rooms across England.
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 4.14% on the 5th Mar compared to 3.88% on the 26th 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 208,054 for the week commencing 24th Feb, down from 209,538 the previous week.
POLICY: MHCLG announced plans to ban new leasehold flats
Leasehold will be replaced by commonhold with the launch of a White Paper. They report a “draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill will be published later this year setting out the legal framework for how reformed commonhold will work”.
POLICY: MHCLG launched Plan for Neighbourhoods
The fund provides “A £1.5 billion programme to invest in 75 areas over the next decade – a long-term strategy to fix the foundations of those places most left behind”.
POLICY: MHCLG published areas of research interest
Policy areas include Driving growth; Delivering 1.5 million new homes; Improving housing quality; Ending homelessness; Reforming local government, local government finance and local public services; Make work pay; Stronger, more integrated and more cohesive communities; Supporting resettlement programmes; Elections; and Cross-cutting – research methodologies and related issues.
POLICY: MHCLG on opening up HM Land Registry data
Amongst the policy priorities in the Housing Minister’s letter to the Chair of the HM Land Registry Board, was the request for “HMLR to work hard on opening up existing data and information on land, improving its accessibility and lowering the barriers to access, including tackling the cost of obtaining data”. The response was less optimistic with the Chair promising “We are committed to simplifying and modernising our pricing structure to make it fairer, more transparent, and more aligned with customer needs”.
REPORT: UKF published Household Finance Review for Q4 2024
They report there were 334,000 first-time buyer mortgage completions in 2024, a 16.4% increase on the previous year. There were also 288,000 mortgaged mover completions, a 14.7% increase over the same period. They report a “Broad-based recovery in lending across most regions, but the South was somewhat stronger”. They also report “Mortgage regulations introduced over the past decade have disproportionately impacted the level of deposits that first time buyers in London need”.
REPORT(PDF): Hometrack reported UK rents rose 3.0% in year to Jan 2025
They report “Annual rent inflation for new lets running at lowest level for 3.5 years” though “12 renters chasing each home for rent – down 42% on 2022-24 levels but still higher than pre-pandemic”.
REPORT: HBF published Housing Pipeline Report for Q4 2024
See Chart of the Week for more detail.
REPORT: Knight Frank published Wealth Report 2025
If you don’t want to sign up for it, you can download the US version here. It has a different introduction but the rest of the content appears to be the same.
REPORT: LSE CASE reported on overcrowding in Newham
The report concludes that overcrowding is “primarily driven by supply and affordability of housing, compounded by restrictions on Housing Benefit (and related Housing Benefit Subsidy) and Universal Credit” while “Larger households, particularly where there are several dependent children or there is an extended household, are likely to be facing greater difficulties in finding appropriate accommodation, and at greater risk of the health, educational and social harms due to their housing conditions than is the case for other households”.
REPORT: HACT reported on housing conditions and respiratory health
The report is a “process review of the collaboration between Housing and Health in the East of England around Asthma, Damp and Mould”.
REPORT: Centre for Homelessness Impact reported on What is a Hostel in 21st Century Britain?
They report “Most hostels in the UK are small” and “Residents in hostels were almost universally offered their own private bedroom” while “Women’s only, and young people’s hostels made up a substantial minority”. They also report “The most frequent length of stay was between one and two years” but “Longer stays of two to five years were common” and “The average cost of a hostel bed per year was £27,785”.
REPORT: CaCHE reported on overheating in domestic homes
The report “poses nine questions: four for the housing and built environment sectors, and five for government and policy” to start debate on the impact of overheating homes.
REPORT: Transport for New Homes reported on new build development
The case study based approach concludes that “a combination of wrong location, wrong transport and a lack of density is resulting in car dependent ‘tarmac’ housing estates which are increasing congestion, limiting housing choices for those who don’t want to drive everywhere, and damaging existing town centres”.
REPORT: Cushman & Wakefield reported on elderly care home lease up
They report “Care homes opened between 2016 and 2024 in the early to mid-build-up phase filled at an average rate of 2.33 beds per month, or 3.22% of capacity per month” and “For an average care home with 70 beds, and assuming mature occupancy at 90%, it would take approximately 27 months to reach this level from the time of opening”.
CORPORATE: Foxtons published Full Year Results
They report “Lettings revenue up 5%, boosted by earnings accretive acquisitions” and “Sales revenue up 31%, driven by double-digit market share gains”. They also report “Lettings market dynamics are expected to remain consistent with 2024, with rental levels broadly flat” and “New under-offer activity, which is not influenced by stamp duty relief, has shown good growth as buyers respond positively to recent interest rate reductions” while “The under-offer pipeline at the end of February 2025 stood 21% higher than the prior year”.
Chart of the Week
The latest HBF Pipeline report, using Glenigan planning data, shows the number of homes granted planning permission in Q4 2024 increased by 15% compared to the previous quarter. As a result, the total number of homes granted permission in 2024 across England was 242,610, only 2% lower than 2023. However, there was some regional variation with annual figures for the North of England up 11% while permissions in the Midlands were down 14% on the year. The South of England was also down, with a 4% fall versus 2023.
Despite the relatively small falls in 2024, the number of homes being granted permission is well below the numbers required for Government to hit its 1.5 million target. This is especially an issue given the timeframes involved and, as per the above weekly new build EPC data, it now appears that housing supply in 2024/25 may be at its lowest level since 2015/16. It is also worth noting that comparisons of permissions and completions to measure unbuilt permissions, as per a recent IPPR report, are simplistic and fail to reflect the realities of the planning system and housebuilding industry.
