Housing Demand ‘Soaring’, Surveyors Say

New research from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) shows that house prices across the country have surged to an 11-year high, fuelled by the Government’s new Help to Buy scheme. RICS said that the introduction of Help to Buy is “widening the net” for people who are able to get access to mortgages with Government-backed deposits as low as 5%.

Buyers ‘Snapping Up’ Properties

Sales volumes are running at their highest levels in more than five-and-a-half years as more people flood into the market to snap up properties, RICS’ latest UK survey found, with nearly three-fifths of surveyors reporting price rises during the month, the highest percentage since June 2002. However, the body also warned that currently, demand is outstripping the supply of homes for sale. Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist, said: “A greater willingness by lenders to increase loan to values on mortgage products allied to the Help to Buy scheme has meant that more and more first-time buyers are in a position to enter the market. “In spite of this, the amount of homes currently up for sale is still nowhere near enough to keep up with demand and, in order for the market to function correctly, this imbalance urgently needs to be addressed.”

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