I despair. Not three months ago, Vince Cable and Mark Carney were worried about ‘a run away’ residential property bubble and I commented, at the time, that they seem to be detached from what was going on in ‘the trenches’.

Again, as I predicted, the London property market was cooling down significantly, even in the lower price ranges.  The high price range properties have shown no price growth whatsoever recently and the market outside of the villages of Central London, at the higher end, is 10-15% below its peak two years ago. Continue reading →

I have ‘seen out’ four recessions and I have been ‘treading the boards’ now in residential estate agency for over 40 years and I can see ‘the writing on the wall’.  Mansion Tax is a punitive tax on aspiration; it will not raise any money at all but will certainly cause mayhem in property values, principally in London, which will put the fledgling UK recovery at risk. Here are a few thoughts:

Q: How easily will Mansion Tax be implemented?
A: The Courts/Tribunals will be besieged with claims and counter claims disputing values, particularly at around £2million, and nothing will be paid until these are resolved and that could take years.

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Whilst it is laudable for Eric Pickles, and the Tory Party, to make some valiant attempt to solve the first time buyers housing problem I am not sure whether this Help-to-Rent scheme takes us any further up the road.

A discount from market rent, organised through government funding of housing associations, is well intentioned and certainly gives the applicant a discounted rent for seven years with a first option to buy at the end. Continue reading →