Coronavirus impact on UK Housing Market

Savills directors Lucian Cook and Lawrence Bowles provide commentary on the current situation with COVID-19 and it’s possible impact on the UK housing market.

The publication begins with how the coronavirus pandemic will affect all aspects of the UK housing market.

The residential research directors for Savills consider the impact it is likely to have on residential transactions, values, rents, and development.

The scenarios they set out in the article seek to reflect a set of economic forecasts produced in a period of significant uncertainty.

As we have all seen the landscape changes swiftly in times of uncertainty and as such their findings are liable to change as circumstances unfold.

In general, they say we can expect the pandemic to affect the housing market in a number of ways:

General uncertainty will weigh on consumer sentiment;
Restrictions on people’s ability to go about their day-to-day business will impede normal estate agency, mortgage and conveyancing processes;
Stock market falls will make people feel less secure about their personal financial situation; and
A negative impact on earnings, employment and wealth generation.

The UK Government has responded with extensive support for the economy and businesses, including liquidity injections, grants and low-cost loans for the most exposed sectors of the economy and encouraging lenders to take a benevolent approach to those struggling with mortgage payments.

This should help reduce some of the pandemic’s impact, enable a swift economic recovery and limit the number of households forced to sell.

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Image: Photo by Bethany Opler on Unsplash