Go back to before the UK joined the EU, or Common Market as it was then.

The property market soared in the 1960s. The main driver back then wasn’t EU trade. It was world trade.

And money, and aspiration. People had jobs and they had money to spend on buying a home.

The growth of the mortgage finance market was a major factor too. Growing numbers of middle class people found they could apply for, and be given, a mortgage for the first time. Although it certainly wasn’t easy. And it definitely wasn’t cheap. It was at least possible.

All this led to an upsurge in demand for homes which had never, ever been seen before.

Builders and developers started to respond to this growth in demand. Building thousands and thousands of homes right across the country. As anyone around in those days will tell you, green fields were turned into vast housing estates, built and occupied ….. often in just a few months.

So what will really will change all that much after Brexit?

Let’s be frank, the EU has never really had any direct impact on the property market. Most if not all of the drivers are dependent on UK, not EU, policy.

After Brexit people will still have jobs. There might even be more jobs, as businesses rake advantage of world trade once again. And people will still have money to spend. On renting as well as buying.

People will still be able to raise finance to buy property. It will be just as easy and cheap as it is today, more or less. And still far, far easier and cheaper than it was back in the 1960s.

So even after Brexit there’ll still be huge demand for property. (Also bearing in mind that, chances are, most EU migrants will be able to stay and, one way or another, still be able to come and work here.)

But there will be one thing that will be significant after Brexit ….

There will continue to be significant undersupply of property to buy and to rent. For example, according to RICS the UK faces a shortage of 1.8m rental homes alone.

Brexit would need to cause some dampening of demand to have any effect on those figures. And it almost certainly won’t.

Builders aren’t building housing estates on the scale they did in the 1960s, 70 or 80s. Who knows, Brexit uncertainty might even cause them to build fewer. Not many people have a great deal of confidence in the Government’s likely White Paper pledges to build more homes, or permit more extensive development in the Green Belt.

And unlike in the pre-Common Market 60s there’s very little new council housing being built, and little prospect of their being very much more. In most places where social housing is being built demand still vastly outstrips supply, and is likely to continue to do so.

So, it’s with some confidence that I believe Brexit really won’t make any difference to the property market over the next few years, meaning prospects for investors and landlords will still remain favourable. Even when you take everything else into account the simple fundamentals of demand for outweighing supply should see to that.

Mark Hempshell is Editor In Chief of Property Insider

The post Why Brexit won’t really make any difference to the mainstream property market first appeared on Property Insider.

* Interest rates have been dropped so low, to prop up the economy. It’s created a false boom in the housing market that doesn’t really exist.

* Developers are mostly only building the houses that they can sell easily and make the most money on – normally 3-4 bed ‘executive’ type homes in good locations. What about the rest of the market?

* There’s a huge demand for affordable housing …. but no one can afford to build affordable housing. Affordable housing is the ultimate oxymoron.

* Mortgage lending policy is a bit of a mess. Is there even a policy? Lenders have been either throwing money at borrowers willy-nilly, or sitting tight on it. The less you need to borrow for a house the more you can have, and vice versa.

* The balance between incomes and house prices is all wrong. And it’s only going in one direction …. the opposite direction.

* First time buyers are the very definition of the term ‘property ladder’. They’ve have underpinned the housing market since the 1960s. Today, not enough first time buyers can afford to buy.

That’s assuming, of course, they actually DO want to buy, which shouldn’t be taken as a given.

* Property has been promoted as an investment, but not enough extra ‘product’ has been added into the market to cater for both investment buyers and home buyers to co-exist.

* Everybody wants to live in a nice area. But the people who already live in nice areas don’t want anybody else to live there.

* Everybody wants to live in a nice area. But nice areas are unaffordable, partly by virtue of the demand. Nobody wants to live in a cheap, affordable area because they’re perceived as not so nice.

* The costs of building a house are huge, partly due to antiquated construction practices. Cars aren’t built the same way they were 50 years ago, so why are houses?

* There hasn’t been a coherent housing policy for years, and years …. and years. Governments have never done anything about it because they know it doesn’t win votes.

Booming house prices and cheap finance on the other hand DO win votes.

Here at Property Insider we think these problems offer some food for thought and maybe contribute towards finding a solution. But we don’t claim to have all the answers. So feel free to drop up an email at hello@propertyinsider.info and let us know what you think. Are we right or wrong? What else is wrong with the housing market right now?

The post 11 Things That Are Wrong With The Housing Market. Discuss! first appeared on Property Insider.

Working in partnership with councils and housing associations, the Mayor’s housing team will oversee the building of new homes in all 32 London Boroughs. According to Mr Khan, the project will result in 17,500 rental properties and a further 32,000 that will combine Shared Ownership with the new London Living Rent scheme.

Introduced by the Mayor in 2016, London Living Rent is aimed at helping workers on middle incomes save for deposits that will enable them to move into Shared Ownership homes. Eligible applicants will be able to pay rent that is based on a third of the average local household income. Housing Associations will be able to offer residents a combination of housing options based on their specific circumstances and the local economy.

Planning is already well underway, and sites have been identified and purchased for 25,000 of the 50,00 that will become available. Battersea estate agent, Eden Harper said, “The Mayor has said he’s keen to resolve the London housing crisis and avoid people being priced out of living in the city. It won’t happen overnight, but it’s welcome news for local residents.”

So far, the project has already broken records at City Hall and is the biggest housing project funded to date. Plaza Estates, Knightsbridge estate agent explains, “This is the biggest project that London housing associations have worked on, which really demonstrates how urgent the housing situation has become in our capital city.

As often reported in the media, we have seen record levels of food bank usage over recent years, and with an increasingly large and ageing population the housing crisis has never been more serious. The tragic fire at Grenfell Tower has placed housing even higher on the agenda, so safety is also high on the agenda.

All homes built as a result of the new project will be built to the highest possible safety standards and will be fitted with sprinklers, fire alarms and smoke detectors. They will also be equipped with safety instructions and clear escape routes to avoid tragedies like Grenfell ever happening again.

Staff at City Hall are currently dealing with applications for approximately 30,000 homes, and almost £500 million has been set aside for further properties. The Mayor has been talking about improving the standard of living in London since he was elected in May of last year, and it looks like he’s well on the way to achieving his target of 90,000 affordable homes by 2021.

Guest Post by Property Division

The post 50,000 affordable new homes announced for London first appeared on Property Insider.