BoE upgrades growth forecast The Bank of England (BoE) has significantly increased its 2021 growth forecast, as survey evidence continues to highlight a strong economic rebound, fuelled by the easing of lockdown restrictions and rapid vaccine rollout. In early May, the BoE revealed its latest predictions for the UK economy, which included a growth forecast of 7.25% for 2021. This Read More
Residential Property Review – May 2021
Queen’s Speech is ‘significant‘ for housing market A key announcement in the Queen’s Speech on 11 May was a new Planning Bill, which aims to simplify and speed up the planning process using a digital, map-based service, allowing more active public engagement in the development process. The reforms should allow homes, schools and hospitals to be delivered at a faster Read More
Economic Review April 2021
Stronger recovery predicted The UK economy returned to growth in February and survey evidence suggests a strong recovery is imminent, as lockdown restrictions ease and the vaccine rollout continues at pace. Data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the economy grew by 0.4% in February, as businesses prepared for the lifting of the third national lockdown. Commenting Read More
Residential Property Review – April 2021
Spring sees the busiest ever housing market Growing optimism due to the vaccine rollout, the return of low-deposit mortgages and the Stamp Duty holiday extension for England and Wales, have contributed to make this spring the best time to be a property seller in a decade, according to property website Rightmove. The online property portal reported a record 9.3 million Read More
Economic Review March 2021
BoE: Outlook ‘unusually uncertain’ The Bank of England (BoE) has expressed growing confidence that a near-term recovery is gathering pace, although policymakers appear split over the country’s longer-term economic prospects. Gross domestic product (GDP) figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the UK economy shrank by 2.9% in January as the third national lockdown kicked in. While Read More
Residential Property Review – March 2021
Stamp Duty holiday extension In his Budget on 3 March, Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed an extension to the Stamp Duty holiday in England and Northern Ireland. Rather than ending on 31 March, as originally announced, the nil-rate threshold for Stamp Duty will remain at £500,000 until 30 June. The extension means that buyers will save a maximum of £15,000 and Read More
Economic Review February 2021
UK economy poised for recovery Although the latest gross domestic product (GDP) statistics revealed the UK suffered a record slump in 2020, there are now growing hopes the economy is on the cusp of recovery. Figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), showed the UK endured a record fall in output last year as coronavirus restrictions ravaged the Read More
Residential Property Review – February 2021
House price growth slows Several recent reports have confirmed that house price growth is slowing, but there are reasons to believe that the housing market will be more stable than last year. According to Knight Frank, the third lockdown and the imminent end of the Stamp Duty holiday have played a major part in delaying a certain amount of activity Read More
