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Brexit is starting to affect housing market, say mortgage brokers

Christina Hoghton
Written By:
Christina Hoghton
Posted:
Updated:
14/02/2019

Political uncertainty is affecting prices, demand and supply, according to advisers

Mortgage advisers anticipate virtually no growth in business levels in the first quarter of 2019, according to Paragon Bank – and they blame Brexit for the slowdown.

In it’s latest survey of over 200 UK mortgage intermediaries Paragon found that expected growth in mortgage transactions during the early part of 2019 is at its lowest level since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008.

According to mortgage advisers, Brexit uncertainty has and will continue to weigh heavily on the UK’s housing market, at least until current political negotiations point to a more definitive outcome.

Negative impact

Looking back over the second half of 2018, 57% of advisers felt that Brexit had a negative impact on demand for properties, 56% said it had put downward pressure on house prices and 44% reported a dampening effect on the availability of property. In contrast, only 5% highlighted a positive impact against any of these factors.

When asked about the impact Brexit was likely to have on the market in the early part of 2019, the overall expectation was that the negative effect would intensify before things got better.

John Heron, managing director of mortgages at Paragon, said: “Brexit uncertainty is causing a measurable slowdown across the UK housing market as potential buyers and sellers adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach. As political negotiations move into the final phase, hopes are high for a workable solution and a much-anticipated Brexit bounce.”