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Land Registry HPI and Private Rental Index

ended 18. October 2023

At 09:30 this morning, the Land Registry is publishing its August House Price Index and the ONS its September Index of Private Housing Rental Prices. With this in mind, a handful of Qs (just answer the ones that are relevant to you, or all):

  • What have been the key trends in the residential property sales market since August?
  • What do you expect to happen to house prices during the rest of 2023 and into 2024?
  • What were the key trends in the rental market in September? Are rents stabilising or continuing to rise (due to landlords being under pressure financially and fewer people buying, for example)? If the latter, is this making it even harder for FTBs to get onto the ladder?
  • What do you expect to happen to rents in the months ahead, and why?

4 responses from the Newspage community

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Sophie Pollard0
Director at MyHaus Brighton
The rental market is in a hugely challenging place right now. This is especially the case in the capital, based on this evidence. Rents are high and with landlords continuing to sell, supply is dwindling, pushing them even higher. High mortgages are also forcing landlords to increase rents simply to cover costs. In time, although it's likely happening already, this will affect standards as landlords rely on rental income to make repairs and maintain properties for their tenants. Since August we have seen many landlords either coming to market to offload their units or at least to explore their options. Overall, the impression we're getting is that landlords do want to continue and keep hold of their investments but in a profitable way. Landlords who are highly leveraged are in a particularly difficult position right now.
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Stephen PerkinsVerified
Managing Director at Yellow Brick Mortgages
The property market is almost comatose at present. House prices have been coming down but not by a large enough margin to inspire potential buyers to flock to the market. Prices need to come down further if we are to see any real pick-up in activity. Higher borrowing costs are also causing people to sit tight, and while mortgage rates have been nudging down over the past month or so, it's not enough to incite confidence among buyers. The latest inflation data published on Wednesday could see a further base rate rise in November, which will likely put further downward pressure on prices. Sellers who price correctly are finding buyers, but those who aren't are seeing their Rightmove listings gather dust.
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Ranald MitchellVerified
Director at bad credit mortgage specialists Charwin Mortgages
Slow is the only way to describe the property market currently. The supply is there but the demand isn't. In the current economic and mortgage climate, buyers are as rare as hen's teeth. This will invariably result in house prices receding further as sellers fight it out to get buyers for their property. Buyer activity is being stifled by the cost of borrowing, and although lenders have been reducing headline rates over the past month or so, it has not been enough to stimulate the market. As for rents, they will continue to rise as landlords, many of whom are still on ultra-low mortgage rates, find their fixed rates maturing and will need to pass on these costs, which in some cases will be significant.
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Graham CoxVerified
Director at Bridging Hub
The property market has been really quiet since the beginning of August and has only now picked up a little in October. Buyers are understandably adopting a wait-and-see approach, hoping for lower house prices and mortgage rates. The former is nailed on, the latter may take a little while yet as inflationary pressures, based on today's data, persist. Property values are likely to fall for the next year to eighteen months in my opinion, perhaps by 15%-20% from current prices. We're probably heading into a recession, as inflation, high taxes, soaring rents and mortgage payments continue to slash discretionary spending. It's a gloomy outlook, but a short sharp shock may be required to make house prices affordable again.