MAY 2024 | PROPERTY MARKET REVIEW
In our market review of May 2024, we look back on noteworthy surveys and reports, significant policy decisions and other developments affecting the UK residential property sector.
One of May’s most notable developments was the news from the Office for National Statistics that inflation (as measured by the Consumer Prices Index) had fallen to a near three-year low of 2.3%. High inflation has been a concern for the Bank of England and a key reason why it has kept the base rate of lending so high and for so long.
It’s by no means a certainty, but the latest figures could provide the trigger the Bank needs to bring interest rates down. High mortgage costs have exerted a powerful braking effect on house price growth in recent years, so a reduction in the base rate could well inject new energy into the market. The ONS figures followed a comment by the Bank’s deputy governor Ben Broadbent, who highlighted the possibility of a rate-cut “some time over the summer.”
Historically, the UK property market has tended to see a positive bounce in the months after a General Election, regardless of which party wins. This is another reason to expect growth rates to improve later this year.
Darren Bennett
Managing Director
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