So here’s the thing. Is this just due to the ridiculous stamp duty holiday deadline, which created what I believe they call a ‘completion bubble? Or a sign that house prices themselves have bubbled? A house really is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it, and not what you or an estate agent think it might be worth. The first sign of trouble is when nothing sells, as no-one wants to bring their price below what the house-round-the-corner-with-the-much-tattier-garden sold for. Then those that have to sell do bring down their asking price. Then everyone has to, or stay put…
“John Lewis foray into BTR could result in losses of £57m”
I did predict a while ago that Waitrose Homes rather than Waitrose Home Deliveries could be the future. John Lewis were probably the most benign big business to decide to go into the housing rental market, a move which could swing things away from the unpredictability of the mass of private landlords who dominate the sector.