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Forecasting the housing market is tricky

It is fair to say the contrary evidence and forces at play in the UK’s housing market (let alone any expectations of international economic fillips or headwinds) are making forecasting the short-term future a tricky business.

At the end of March, the Office for National Statistics reported that British consumers had spent more than they earned for a record ninth consecutive quarter at the end of last year and in doing so offset falling business investment to underpin a measly rate of quarterly economic growth.

Consumers have underpinned Britain’s economic expansion since the Brexit referendum as businesses have slowed or ceased investing. But this support has come at a cost as spending has grown despite a fall in the pound that has reduced real incomes, meaning consumers have had to either borrow more or dip into their savings.

Could this behaviour explain the optimism reported in March by the Halifax that reported a 5.9% increase in February in house prices that lifted the average property price to £236,800?

This news predictably divided pundits (some arguing it was a correction to January’s poor figures) but another report by HMRC showed that the number of residential transactions totalled 101,170 in January 2019 – a monthly rise of 0.8% and an increase of 1.3% compared to January 2018.

All this would suggest that the housing market remains quite stable, and many maintain that the market should expect circa 1.2 million home sales for this year, as there have been in every year since 2013.

But completions data is clearly based on sales agreed as much as three months ago. Certainly at the front end of the value chain, few estate agencies are sounding overly positive about sales.

News of closures is not uncommon and Winkworth’s trading statement released in March reflected a common sentiment that while its rental side blossomed, sales suffered thanks to the familiar cocktail of Brexit, uncertainty and affordability issues.

It’s clear that, notwithstanding our current turmoil, certain long-term factors continue to impact the market. We are missing our new build targets and we have higher numbers of people who want to buy, living in private rented accommodation.

The chances of owning your own home, if you were born since the 1980s, have melted away. Supply, affordability and a lack of transactions continue to thwart society. The housing market needs more policy thought, more supply and more delivery if it is to deliver a meaningful economic and political purpose.

In the short-term, everyone appears to be hoping for a post Brexit bounce that will temporarily unlock the market and allow sellers to come forward and deliver buying demand and increased transactions.

But whatever the next few weeks bring for our nation, we should not mistake any short-term improvement in activity for a ‘fix’ to our market. Our energy and our efforts should be refocused on dealing with our housing market’s longer-term problems.

By Joanne Atkin

Source: Mortgage Finance Gazette

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UK housing market: Limited supply holds back spring bounce

House prices in the UK have seen a noticeable slowdown over the last two years, and despite Brexit being kicked down the road to October, things haven’t perked up much for the property market. Brexit uncertainty, coupled with a lack of available stock, continue to make people feel nervous about buying and selling their homes and there seems to be little sense of a turnaround anytime soon.

According to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) sentiment survey, the balance between the proportion of surveyors seeing house prices rise to those seeing a fall in April has remained unchanged at -23%. This is in line with recently released government numbers which suggest average prices in the UK grew by a marginal 0.6% in February compared to a year earlier – the smallest rise since September 2012.

Despite all the doom and gloom, it’s worth noting that price expectations for UK houses over the next twelve months are modestly positive

London and the South East appear to be the weakest link where things appear to be particularly troubling, as prices in London alone fell by 3.8% year-on-year. Brexit uncertainty, coupled with changes to stamp duty and tax treatment of rental income, has hit the capital harder than the rest of the country. Property valuations in London are typically much higher and rental yields lower than in other UK regions.

But there is also a clear divergence in the number of properties on the market. In London, estate agents are reporting fairly average levels of properties on their books, resulting in very poor sales-to-stock ratios, and thereby putting further pressure on prices. Elsewhere in the country, the stock is much more limited and in many cases, well below average. The RICS survey suggests fewer properties are coming to the market too, as sellers continue to withhold stock thereby limiting choice for potential buyers. A net balance of 35% of surveyors has seen a fall in instructions during April – the poorest reading since June 2016.

But despite all the doom and gloom, it’s worth noting that price expectations for the next twelve months are modestly positive. Scotland and Northern Ireland have already been bucking the trend where prices continue to rise.

What’s going on in the lettings market?

As affordability bites, first-time buyers continue to postpone their purchases to save for a larger deposit, which increases the size of the rental sector.

The survey suggests the upcoming letting fees ban, which prevents landlords from charging tenants for credit checks and references and proposed plans to get rid of section 21, which allows them to evict tenants at short notice, could potentially make some landlords leave the market altogether. These changes come on top of the recent stamp duty changes which have seen buy-to-let investors facing an extra 3% charge, prompting another sharp fall in landlord instructions.

However, in the long-term, these changes need not necessarily be viewed negatively, as a larger rental market may offset tax distortions that currently discourage renting in the UK.

What does all of this mean for the economy?

Given how important consumer confidence is for the housing market, the temporary dip in Brexit noise, rising wage growth story and a strong jobs market should all, in theory, be positive factors, at least in the near-term. However, the latest Bank of England credit conditions survey suggests that demand for secured lending for house purchases is expected to decrease further in 2Q, suggesting the tide in the property market is not likely to change rapidly.

Still, we don’t expect the property market to feature too heavily in the Bank of England’s future decision on interest rates. Over half of mortgage holders are on a fixed-rate product, compared to around 30% back in 2012.

This means that consumers are generally less exposed to the impact of gradual rate rises and the outlook for interest rates will continue to hinge on the outlook for investment, which we expect to remain pressured by ongoing uncertainty. We currently don’t expect a rate hike this year, although having said that, recent comments from Governor Mark Carney suggest a November move shouldn’t be ruled out if Article 50 is extended again.

By James Smith

Source: Think Ing

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Number of landlords in arrears up 12%

The number of buy-to-let mortgage holders in significant arrears has increased by 12 per cent since last year, according to new data from UK Finance.

The trade body’s mortgage arrears and possessions update, published today (May 9), showed there were 1,200 buy-to-let mortgage properties in serious arrears — 10 per cent or more of the outstanding balance — in the first three months of 2019.

This was 12 per cent greater than in the same period in 2018.

The total number of buy-to-let mortgaged properties in any arrears, 2.5 per cent or more of the balance, increased by 3 per cent to 4,620 in Q1 2019.

The residential market fared better as the new data showed the number of homeowners in arrears remained at a historic low.

There were 76,580 homeowners in low level arrears in the first three months of 2019, down 4 per cent on the same period last year, and the number of consumers in serious arrears decreased by 3 per cent.

Arrears led to 1,380 residential properties and 570 buy-to-let mortgaged properties being repossessed in the quarter.

For the buy-to-let market, this meant repossessions fell by 14 per cent while for residential mortgages, the number of houses repossessed increased by 10 per cent.

UK Finance stated the increase in possession in the residential market had been driven in part by a backlog of historic cases and stressed that the total remained well below the levels seen between 2009 and 2014.

Commenting on today’s findings, Jonathan Harris, director of mortgage broker Anderson Harris, said: “Encouragingly, there has been a further fall in the number of homeowners in mortgage arrears, with numbers at historically low levels.

“The vast majority of borrowers are paying their mortgage in full and on time each month, perhaps not surprising when one considers how low interest rates are.”

But Mr Harris stressed there was no room for complacency in terms of mortgage repayments and said borrowers should plan ahead and consider how they would cope if interest rates were to rise.

Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman, said: “Buy-to-let landlords are falling into arrears from the pressure of tax and regulatory changes, as we might have expected.

“These figures also show that there is little appetite among lenders to repossess because they are not going to do too much better than the owners themselves in achieving a sale at a reasonable price.”

According to Mark Pilling, managing director at Spicerhaart Corporate Sales, the increase in buy-to-let properties in arrears could be down to the fact that many private landlords were looking to get out of the sector as a result of regulatory change.

This rise, he said, could be down to the fact that some tenants who have been given notice are now not making their rent payments.

He added: “In terms of residential mortgages, arrears are down slightly but possessions are up by 10 per cent, a fairly significant increase. And while they are still not at the levels seen after the financial crisis, they are slowly creeping up.

“And I think we will now see these residential possession numbers continue to increase every quarter, ballooning at the end of the year as borrowers start to run out of options to get themselves out of difficulty. And while forbearance is still an option for some, lenders need to look at all the circumstances of each customer and get the right strategy in place.”

In January, the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association warned the introduction of various tax and regulatory changes since 2015 would begin to have an effect on property availability and tenant choice in the rental sector as landlords began to feel the pinch of new regulation.

Landlords have been subject to a number of regulatory changes in recent years, with the introduction of an additional 3 per cent stamp duty surcharge on second homes in April 2016, which was closely followed by cuts to mortgage interest tax relief.

Buy-to-let borrowers are also now subject to more stringent affordability testing under the Prudential Regulation Authority’s tightened underwriting rules.

By Imogen Tew

Source: FT Adviser

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BoE’s Saunders does not expect UK rates to rise ‘far or fast’

The Bank of England is unlikely to raise interest rates far or fast, even if the economy picks up following a smooth Brexit, Monetary Policy Committee member Michael Saunders said in an interview published on Thursday.

Business investment would probably strengthen following a smooth Brexit but a series of “cliff edges” could cause it to continue to stagnate, Saunders told the Northern Echo newspaper during a visit to northeast England.

“I would expect interest rates will go a bit higher over time, but it won’t be far or fast,” he said.

A ‘neutral’ level for interest rates, which would neither stimulate nor slow the economy, was probably around 2 percent, compared to 5 percent before the 2008 financial crisis, Saunders added.

The Bank of England last raised interest rates in August, increasing them by a quarter of a percentage point to 0.75 percent. Financial markets see little chance of a rates rising this year while it remains unclear on what terms Britain will leave the European Union.

The BoE has long said interest rate rises will most likely be limited and gradual, but last week Governor Mark Carney said markets had gone too far in assuming rates would rise just once over the next three years.

However, on Tuesday the BoE’s chief economist, Andy Haldane, stressed the ongoing uncertainty over Brexit and said it would be “deeply arrogant” to say markets were wrong about the outlook for interest rates or the economy more broadly.

Saunders, the first BoE policymaker to vote for interest rates to rise last year, said Britain had missed out on two to three years of business investment growth since June 2016’s referendum decision to leave the EU.

A smooth Brexit transition to a trading relationship with the EU that was closer than Canada’s, but more distant than Norway’s, “probably wouldn’t be as bad as many businesses fear,” Saunders said.

“No-deal Brexit would be off the table, business investment would recover a bit, the economy would continue to grow steadily and the jobless rate would probably fall,” he added.

By contrast, a no-deal Brexit would most likely cause sterling to fall and push up inflation, as well as causing business investment to fall further.

“That would be painful,” he said.

Reporting by David Milliken, editing by Andy Bruce; Editing by Toby Chopra

Source: UK Reuters

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UK house prices: Experts warn of ‘volatile’ UK housing market after sharp April growth

Experts today warned that volatility is affecting the UK housing market as Halifax recorded a sharp annual jump in house prices in April.

UK homes are now worth an average £236,619 following the stark five per cent rise for the three months to April, compared to the same period in 2018, Halifax’s house price index revealed.

House prices also climbed 4.2 per cent in the latest quarter compared to the previous three months, while April saw a 1.1 per cent rise compared to March.

London helped push up April’s house price growth after a higher volume of London sales and pricier new build properties.

However, Halifax warned demand and supply also “remained subdued”.

Russell Galley, managing director of Halifax, said: “The index has seen a weaker pace of growth over the last three years, which is consistent with the easing of transactions volumes and housing market activity reflected in Rics, Bank of England and HMRC figures.”

UK house price volatility

Howard Archer, chief economic adviser to the EY Item Club, warned that the Halifax index has been “particularly volatile” in recent months and called the five per cent growth figure “very much an outlier”.

It compares to Nationwide’s weak 0.9 per cent annual growth estimate and the Land Registry’s even worse estimate of 0.6 per cent growth.

“There are overall signs that house prices may have picked up slightly from the lows at the start of the year, which may well be the consequence of recent improved consumer purchasing power and robust employment growth,” Archer admitted.

“Nevertheless, conditions still look pretty challenging for the housing market.”

He pointed to steep house prices, and London house prices and the south east acting as a brake on the wider market.

Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former Rics residential chairman, said the figures signal “a spring bounce but not as great as we might have expected”.

“The market is quite volatile, bearing in mind the fall in prices last month,” he added. “The price increases recorded are probably more to do with shortages of stock and lower transactions than sustainable market strength.”

Brian Murphy, head of lending for Mortgage Advice Bureau, said the latest data “proves yet again how erratic any monthly changes to average property prices can be”.

“The year on year growth figures in April appear more consistent with the picture from the previous month, although it’s likely that this is being supported by the ongoing lack of properties for sale in many parts of the UK,” he said.

“With the usual spring market perhaps not quite as bouncy as usual, we’re seeing continued lender competition as mortgage rates remain at or close to record lows.”

Sam Mitchell, chief executive of online estate agents Housesimple, said: “This bumpy ride is symptomatic of a property market that continues to be held back by low stock levels and ongoing uncertainty around Brexit which is making buyers hesitant to commit.”

Is UK housing market recovery really on?

Halifax faced criticism when it said UK house prices grew 5.9 per cent in February, but

Jonathan Hopper, managing director of Garrington Property Finders, said the latest annual rise suggests February’s data “was no blip, but the start of a fightback”.

“April was that rarest of beasts – a month in which Brexit uncertainty eased substantially. While this backdrop explains some of the market’s ‘relaxation rally’, it’s worth noting that it also released some pent-up buyer demand,” he said.

“The question now is whether a return to Brexit deadlock will put the cork back in the bottle, or whether the market has gathered enough momentum to continue to flow freely.”

Sam Mitchell, chief executive of online estate agents Housesimple, said: “This bumpy ride is symptomatic of a property market that continues to be held back by low stock levels and ongoing uncertainty around Brexit which is making buyers hesitant to commit.”

Housesimple’s Mitchell added that the extended Halloween Brexit deadline could benefit the housing market.

“We could well see a late spring bounce, as sellers and buyers take advantage of this window of opportunity while there is less political turmoil swirling around, to progress a sale or purchase,” he said.

However, while EY’s Archer admitted avoiding an imminent no-deal Brexit in March may provide a “modest boost” to house prices, the new delay will just fuel market hesitancy.

“Prolonged uncertainty will weigh down on the economy and hamper housing market activity. Consequently, we suspect house prices will rise only one per cent over the year,” he predicted.

By Joe Curtis

Source: City AM

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Pound slides to one-week low as Brexit talks falter

Sterling slumped on Wednesday on signs that Brexit talks between Britain’s government and the main opposition party may soon collapse.

The pound has been falling as negotiations between the Conservative and Labour Parties lumber on with little success and as concerns grow about a challenge to Prime Minister Theresa May’s leadership.

But a suggestion by broadcaster ITV’s political editor that the talks could be pronounced dead later on Wednesday took sterling down another leg.

The pound dropped below $1.31 for the first time in a week, down 0.6 percent on the day. It also hit a six-day low versus the euro of 86.24 pence, again down 0.6 percent on the day.

Volatility in currency markets is currently very low and in recent weeks investors have also curtailed their bets on big swings in the pound.

(Graphic – GBP vol vs others, tmsnrt.rs/2WwASTs)

The government conceded on Tuesday that Britain would take part in European Parliament elections this month, a poll that could deliver more bruising results to both major parties.

“The announcement that the UK will take part in European elections confirms that cross-party Brexit talks aren’t going anywhere fast. This also refocuses attention on a leadership challenge to May. Favour the pound to “$1.2950,” said ING analysts in a note to clients.

Some analysts attribute sterling’s recent tepid performance to major risks that could yank the currency either way.

“To the upside, the probability of no Brexit via a second referendum and vote to remain… has started to edge up again in recent days. The downside is associated with.. the risk of May being replaced as PM which is rising,” said RBC’s chief currency strategist Adam Cole.

May agreed a withdrawal deal with the EU last year, but it was rejected three times by a deeply divided British parliament. That delayed the exit date, a postponement that has weighed on the pound as investors fret about prolonged political uncertainty.

Sterling has traded in a narrow range of $1.28-$1.31 since Britain pushed its scheduled departure from the European Union back from March until Oct. 31. There is still little clarity about when, how, or even if, Brexit will happen.

Investors have been broadly impervious to tepid economic data recently and even relatively hawkish comments from the Bank of England last week failed to jolt the currency.

(Graphic – Trade-weighted sterling since Brexit vote, tmsnrt.rs/2hwV9Hv)

Reporting by Tom Finn and Saikat Chaterjee; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Alexandra Hudson

Source: UK Reuters

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UK housing market shows scant sign of recovery in April – RICS

UK housing market showed little sign of recovery in April as properties put up for sale fell the fastest rate since 2016, according to a survey on Thursday that added to downbeat signals from the housing market ahead of Brexit.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) gauge of house prices held at -23 in April, still close to February’s level of -27, the weakest in almost eight years.

While official data show house prices have been rising across the country as a whole, prices in London have fallen, hit by unaffordable prices for many buyers, tax changes affecting rental properties and Brexit uncertainty which has weighed heavily on the capital.

“Although there are signs of greater realism on pricing from vendors, there is little conviction in the feedback from respondents to the survey that activity in the housing market will pick-up anytime soon,” RICS chief economist Simon Rubinsohn said.

Bank of England data last week showed British lenders approved the fewest mortgages since December 2017 in March, and that consumer borrowing slowed sharply in the run-up to the original Brexit deadline of March 29.

“Significantly, the key RICS buyer enquiries indicator remains subdued and sales expectations looking a year out are only modestly positive,” Rubinsohn said.

Reporting by Andy Bruce

Source: UK Reuters

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UK business confidence remains negative

The ICAEW Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) suggests that GDP growth could drop from 0.5% in Q1 to 0.2% in Q2, due to the impact of stock building, which “probably temporarily boosted GDP”.

“Businesses I speak to say that there is no sense that things will change much in the next few months and this is reflected in their confidence. Many have stockpiled ahead of the expected March exit from the European Union, but this did not happen. Stockpiling is expensive for businesses, but it did boost GDP growth,” said Michael Izza, ICAEW chief executive.

“However, my fear is that this will have an impact on growth and GDP figures in the rest of the year, so we should not be surprised to see even lower growth than normal while companies use up the excess stock they now have,” added Izza.

Stock building of raw materials and components is most widespread among businesses in the manufacturing sector.

Business confidence remains negative (-16.6) but has not fallen sharply for the first time in year. Transport and storage (-26.7) and property (-26.1) are the least confident sectors, according to the BCM.

Sales growth has been “slow and steady” and is predicted to remain so for the year. Employment is also growing slowly, said ICAEW.

By Raymond Doherty

Source: Economia

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UK annual house price growth hits two-year high in April – Halifax

British annual house price growth picked up more than expected last month to hit its highest in over two years, mortgage lender Halifax said on Wednesday, contrasting with other signs of a muted housing market.

House prices in the three months to April stood 5.0 percent higher than a year ago, the strongest growth since February 2017 and a marked increase from the 2.6 percent rise recorded for the three months to March.

The reading came in above all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists that had pointed to an annual increase of 4.5 percent in the three months to April.

“The surge in house prices reported by Halifax cannot be reconciled with any other evidence from the housing market. Less volatile measures paint a far more subdued picture,” said Samuel Tombs, economist at Pantheon Economics.

Halifax said the year-on-year gains reflected unusually weak prices in April 2018, as well as more sales of more expensive newly built homes and a bigger proportion of sales coming from London, where house prices are above average.

Bank of England data last week showed British lenders approved the fewest mortgages in March since December 2017, and that consumer borrowing slowed sharply in the run-up to the original Brexit deadline of March 29.

While house prices have been rising across the country as a whole, prices in London have fallen according to various indicators, hit by unaffordable prices for many buyers, tax changes affecting the buy-to-let market and Brexit uncertainty which has weighed heavily on the capital.

Halifax said house prices in April alone rose 1.1 percent, again stronger than all forecasts in the Reuters poll that had pointed to an increase of just 0.1 percent. However, this represented only a partial recovery from March’s 1.3 percent drop.

Reporting by Andy Bruce; Editing by David Milliken

Source: UK Reuters

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Not all gloom for rental market

It has been widely reported in the media how Brexit uncertainty has slowed down both the buy-to-let and residential housing market.

However, closer examination suggests other factors may have as much or more influence on current market activity.

Undeniably there has been a slowdown in both residential and buy-to-let markets over the past 12 months.

UK Finance recently reported that while buy-to-let remortgage activity has soared, the total number of buy-to-let purchase completions in 2018 was 11.2 per cent less than in 2017.

Meanwhile, their figures for January 2019 showed a 1.5 per cent reduction in the volume of residential lending, compared to the start of 2018. Put simply, people were choosing to sit tight and rely on the private rental sector rather than buy their own homes.

Key Points

  • There has been a slowdown in the buy-to-let sector
  • There has been intervention by the government in the buy-to-let market
  • The number of buy-to-let products shows lenders are positive about the outlook

For many who are renting, the prospect of saving for a deposit remains an almighty challenge.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s recently-released English Housing Survey for 2017-18, indicated that the private rental sector has remained unchanged for the past five years at 4.5m households, which equates to 19 per cent of the total.

The latest survey revealed that 58 per cent of renters expected to buy a property eventually, with 26 per cent anticipating this will happen within the next two years, while 41 per cent suggested it will take five years or more to accomplish this goal.

Those timescales suggest that Brexit is not a major consideration.

Meanwhile, landlords have been dealing with more immediate and tangible concerns.

The past three years have seen substantial government intervention in the buy-to-let market, with the introduction of stamp duty on additional properties and the reduction and gradual replacement of mortgage interest tax relief perhaps the biggest financial changes.

But factor in the new house in multiple occupation licensing laws and crackdowns on living standards, plus the imponderable consequences of the imminent tenant fees ban and it is easy to see why some landlords have decided to sell up or not invest.

In particular, it has been the smaller landlord, perhaps with less time to keep abreast of the changes or adapt their strategy, that has struggled with the changes.

Many landlords with larger portfolios may already operate with more organised strategies in place, particularly in light of the Prudential Regulation Authority changes that came into effect in October 2017.

These required a more rigorous approach to the underwriting of portfolio borrowing and resulted in such investors having to provide more detail at the application stage.

It is too simplistic to simply lay current property investment levels purely at the feet of Brexit. There are too many other elements at play.

Adopting a pragmatic approach to investment

There are still plenty of reasons why buy-to-let investments can offer opportunities to those looking for solid financial returns.

Firstly, depending largely on property location and type, many landlords continue to turn a profit, which currently outweighs those available from other types of investment.

Here are a few positive factors to consider if your clients are contemplating a buy-to-let investment:

• At the moment, there is a general sense of stagnation within the property market. This means that property prices are, in many areas, no longer accelerating at previous rates.

Consequently, there may be opportunities available on the market. If you come across a property that has historically been rented out, this might mean there is less work to do upon purchase to have it ready to let.

• Market sentiment, as highlighted by the government’s survey, suggests no reduction in demand for rental homes, as thousands put on hold their dreams of home ownership in favour of renting for the foreseeable future.

In February, London estate agent Foxtons reported that in 2018 there was an 8 per cent increase in renter registrations in London, compared to 2017.

• There are big regional disparities in buy-to-let performance – and landlords are not bound geographically by where they own property. Buy-to-let yields and capital growth prospects vary across the UK, with the North West and the Midlands figuring prominently in recent data.

Since June 2016, when the Brexit vote took place, 10 UK cities have achieved double-digit house price growth, with seven located in the north of England.

• While Brexit has arguably had a negative effect on London and the South East, so too has the price of property for would-be buyers and, likewise, rent for would-be tenants.

With government investment in infrastructure, in particular the Northern Powerhouse, businesses have relocated to other parts of the UK and workers have followed suit. That has helped to create vibrant micro-economies for buy-to-let.

• Historically, house prices have recovered from any short-term economic or political unrest and proved resilient in the face of the financial crisis of a decade ago. Investment in bricks and mortar should always be regarded as a long-term strategy, in this context, well beyond Brexit.

• The sheer volume of buy-to-let products in the market place (1,162 in late February 2019, according to Moneyfacts), reflects a positive buy-to-let outlook from lenders. But the choice also comes with all sorts of incentives and competitive mortgage rates.

The Bank of England base rate remains historically low and rates for five-year fixed rate buy-to-let mortgages, for example, are more than 2 per cent less than in 2010.

The big question is how long lenders can sustain these low mortgage rates? By delaying investment in buy-to-let, some borrowers could run the risk of missing out on the lowest deals, should rates rise in the future.

We live in extraordinary times and Brexit presents its own unique set of challenges, but should not be confused with wider property market issues.

Perhaps never before has there been as much need for a buoyant private rental sector that serves the country’s escalating needs.

With low interest rates, infrastructure investment and growing tenant demand, Brexit may not present as big a challenge as recent tax and legislative changes. But, with a sound and responsive investment plan in place, buy-to-let landlords can prosper and Brexit offers no reason why that should not continue.

By Andrew Turner, interim chief executive of Commercial Trust

Source: FT Adviser