Jackson-Stops National Survey on the Election

After the recent announcement about the snap general election, there must have been a collective sigh from estate agents and their clients around the country after the disruption the Referendum caused last year. Many times have I said that markets do not like uncertainty and this seems to be the case here although with a more positive outcome this time.

If the polls are to be believed (and let’s not forget last year) then it is a foregone conclusion that the Conservatives will win the election and it is simply a case of by how much. We had extracts from our national survey published in the Times which shows that across our 44 offices, 93 per cent showed no negative impact on instruction levels as a result of the announcement and 83 per cent thought a Conservative win with an increased majority would have a positive effect given that it should make the Brexit process easier.

This is of course a simplification of what is of course an extremely complex and unknown process of an election followed by Brexit. However, last year’s housing market was subdued and prices in real terms were pegged back and these stabilising periods are very typical of the ebb and flow of the residential property without the same dramatic peaks and troughs as we saw in the first decade of this millennium. Against this we have an announcement from the Yorkshire Building Society of the lowest ever mortgage rate in Britain so clearly there is an appetite and competition to lend which can only be a positive for homeowners.

The message remains the same in the Cotswolds; buying a property whether upsizing, downsizing, second homing or being new to the area is driven by personal considerations being the overriding factor rather than what is quickly becoming the norm of political derangement.