Housing recovery 'set to slow'

As the UK emerges from recession, the rate of recovery experienced in the housing market since its crash a few years ago is set to slow over the coming months, it has been suggested.

According to the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI), 2010 will mark the year that house market recovery begins to slow.

Over the next 12 months, the group has estimated gross mortgage lending will be between £150 billion and £160 billion, while there will be 620,000 housing transactions.

Meanwhile, sharp inflation rises seen in December 2009 will subside as 2010 progresses and further financial quarters of contraction in Gross Domestic Product could still occur.

Robert Sinclair, director of AMI, said: "The shortage of housing supply for sale and the continued low level of mortgage funding will continue to constrain the level of activity in the market."

Should house prices fall as a result of this slow in recovery, some Britons may welcome the news.

Indeed, people who wish to buy a home but who have been putting it off as a result of high house prices may wish to choose flats to rent in Notting Hill or another part of London while they wait for prices to fall.

Katy John, spokesperson for PricedOut.org.uk, recently asserted news of increasing house prices was unlikely to be welcomed by young Britons.

Written by Charles Mackay

Published 2nd February, 2010

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