The Managing Director of Millwood Designer Homes, John Elliott has been reflecting on the major milestones that have been reached by the property market over the course of this year.
2017 has seen a lot of interesting things happen and this has had a knock on effect on the property market. There have been a range of factors that have affected the UK property market, including the results of the 2016 Brexit referendum. The referendum led to a snap election and it seems that the confidence of home buyers had fallen to its lowest level in years. Because of this poor start to 2017, there has been a great deal of scrutiny over the course of the year. Despite this level of scrutiny, and the criticism that has accompanied it at times, John Elliott has remained confident that the Prime Minister would agree a good deal with Brexit and that the UK leaving the EU would not have a negative effect on the housing market.
John Elliott has expressed the opinion that the UK has a strong and growing home grown housing market and that the high demand for new homes continues to keep the market buoyant. The first increase in interest rates in ten years was another significant event for 2017, and this appears to be a more realistic appraisal of the wider economy. It is hoped that the increase that has been put into place will not make much of a difference to individual mortgages and loans, which are expected to not see much of a difference.
The shortage of the supply of the new homes seem to underpin the market, in particular the mainstream and mid to lower end. However, there has also been an abundance of good news in the new build sector this year. Both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor seem committee to making sure that more and more people of in younger generations will be able to own their own home.
Going forward, spirits need to remain high for the property industry. The extension of the Help to Buy scheme is one of the excellent ways that will help first time buyers as well as second steppers, getting the whole property ladder on the move.
