House prices in London fell in October where the average house price is now £475,000 vs £481,000 in July as the effects of Brexit are slowly falling. Overall, the average UK house price is £217,000 and this represents a 6.9% increase YoY.
The government announced the launch of 17 ‘garden’ communities where new homes will be built to ease the chronic housing shortage. Cornwall, Cumbria, and 3 new towns close to Aylesbury and Harlow are just some of the places named. It is hoped 200,000 homes will be built – however this still falls short of the 1m homes needed between 2015-2020. The garden community is a 19th century idea of building houses in brand new-towns surrounded by countryside. The garden communities will be self-sufficient and create jobs. Planning restrictions will be relaxed a little and the government will contribute £7.4m towards funding.
The shopping period for late November / early December grew at its fastest rate in the UK for more than a year. This period included Black Friday. However, many stores fear that growth will slow early in 2017 with higher prices starting to take effect. Rising inflation is also expected to be a factor.
Mario Draghi of the European Central Bank warned that the UK will ‘first and foremost’ suffer most from Brexit whilst calling for clarity over ongoing negotiations ‘in order to reduce uncertainty’.
