OK, hands up, I’ve consistently said house prices can’t go up, certainly at this rate, forever. And I’ve been consistently wrong. So far. I’ve spoken to two clients this week, one buying, one selling, who’ve had to pay or been paid over the asking price. And those new builds are still being built and built in every town and village near us all. What, then, will be the tipping point? Rising interest rates? Enough people still tell me ‘they don’t know they’re born, I remember paying 16%’ to make this unlikely. But a tipping point, alas, there will be, because there always is. And it will probably be mortgage-related.
“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.
