Yearly growth slows to 0.7%
The latest UK house price index from Halifax has revealed a steady month in November, with values unchanged from the previous month.
However, the annual rate of growth has softened from 1.9% in October to 0.7%.
Northern Ireland remains the strongest performing nation or region in the UK, with average property prices rising by 8.9% over the past year.
Scotland recorded annual price growth of 3.7%, and Wales recorded 1.9% growth.
Meanwhile, Nationwide’s annual house price for November saw a 0.3% change in the month, with annual house price growth reducing from 2.4% in October to 1.8%.
Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said: “Against a backdrop of subdued consumer confidence and signs of weakening in the labour market, this performance indicates resilience, especially since mortgage rates are more than double the level they were before Covid struck and house prices are close to all-time highs.”
Government launches London consultation on housebuilding support
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has launched a consultation on two of its announced measures to support housebuilding in London.
The first part seeks views on the proposal by MHCLG to provide temporary relief from the Community and Infrastructure Levy on new schemes which provide at least 20% affordable housing.
The second invites comment on changes to the Mayor of London’s planning powers, which propose permanent changes to strengthen oversight of planning applications of potential strategic importance.
Meanwhile, the Government also launched a £4m fund for research on reducing the cost and time it takes to build new infrastructure.
The Industrialising and Digitising Construction Research and Innovation Challenge was first announced last week at UK Research and Innovation’s growth summit.
Steepest downturn in UK construction output for over five years
The S&P Global Construction PMI has revealed that all three construction sub-sectors saw the greatest fall in activity in November since May 2020.
Many construction companies commented on weak market confidence and delayed spending decisions ahead of the Autumn Budget.
The headline index fell from 44.1 in October to 39.4 in November, with housing activity dropping to 35.4.
Meanwhile, a report from the House of Commons energy security and net zero committee has told the Government that it will miss its net zero targets without more state intervention in construction skills training.
The report also recommended that the UK brings in specific skilled workers from overseas to help meet targets.
Developer and supply chain updates
Places for People (PfP) has completed the acquisitions of South Yorkshire Housing Association and Elim Housing, bringing their combined 6,600 homes into the group’s 262,000-home portfolio.
PfP said the mergers will pair its scale and financial resilience with the two associations’ local expertise to improve services and expand the delivery of affordable and specialist housing.
Both organisations will integrate fully over the coming year and ultimately operate under the PfP name.
Housing View 