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Andy Sommerville, Director at Search Acumen, comments: “Housing transactions reached their highest point last month since the headlong rush to beat the introduction of the stamp duty surcharge twelve months earlier in March last year. A modest monthly rise from February 2017 nonetheless shows that a recovery in the residential property market is underway, with seasonally-adjusted transactions topping 100,000 for three successive months. This is just what the industry needs as the UK enters another potentially turbulent few months in the lead-up to the snap election on 8th June.

Andy Sommerville, Director at Search Acumen, comments on today’s DCLG Help to Buy (Equity Loan scheme) statistics: 1 April 2013 to 31 December 2016

“Today’s statistics reveal that the typical price paid for residential property in England and Wales increased by 259% between 1997 and 2016 – an obviously significant jump over nearly two decades. On average, working people could expect to pay around seven and a half times their annual salary when purchasing a home in England and Wales last year, up from around three and a half times their earnings twenty years ago. Evidently, the 21st century has seen home-ownership pushed far into the distance for many young professionals but we are now in danger of ‘Generation Rent’ encompassing house hunters of all ages.

“2017 will almost certainly be another year of big house price increases. The final month of 2016 saw a 1.4% jump in house prices, setting the tone for the year ahead.

The battle for a more efficient housing market has sprung into action with the publication of the Housing White Paper marking a vital acknowledgement of the current broken system. Planning for the right homes in the right places, building homes faster and diversifying the market are all welcomed ploys, but the announced modernisation of Land Registry mustn’t be overlooked as a leap in the right direction for our industry.