average UK house price rose by 2.9% to £292,000, in the 12 months to September, latest official figures show. The house price index from the Office for National Statistics and the Land Registry reveals that prices in England increased 2.5% year on year to £309,000. In Wales they edged up by just 0.4% to £217,000, while Scotland saw much steeper annual growth, with prices up 5.7% to £198,000. The asking prices of properties listed for sale fell by 1.4% on average in November, equating to a £5,366 drop month-onmonth, but the outlook for next year remains positive. Following this month’s price drop, the average asking price of a property listed for sale is £366,592. Rightmove’s House Price Index covering the month to 9 November showed a bigger monthly fall than usual for the time of year, attributed to pre- and post-Budget nerves that appeared to have caused a largerthan-normal seasonal slowdown in pricing as we head towards Christmas. Annually, however, market activity remained stronger than last year despite the dampening effects of the Budget. New listings came to market priced at 1.2% more than last year, while the number of sales agreed is up 26%. Meanwhile, the number of new sellers deciding to move and coming to market is 6% ahead of the same period a year ago. ‘Rentflation’ continues with average rents for tenants of privately-let homes increasing by 8.7% in the year to October to reach £1,307 a month, this amounts to an extra £105 per month for tenants across Britain, compared to 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics’ provisional data. As important to our market, and something that is behind the scenes, is new data that shows the value of new construction work in Great Britain increased according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This growth was driven by an increase in both the private sector and public sector. To ‘chime’ with this growth, construction employment, excluding self-employment, rose by 0.2% to 1.4 million workers, with Scotland contributing the most growth at 05 WINTER MORTGAGE NEWSLETTER 1.4%, while Wales grew by 0.7% What is also encouraging to see is the number of Lenders who are looking at imaginative offerings to their propositions, many realise whilst important, rates are only part of the story for customers, what they are really looking for is simplicity in the offering. We are constantly being asked by many Lenders about a difference to their products, what new products could work and to whom; it is becoming more scientific in terms of structuring needs, value and price from a product to the end customer, which can only be a good thing, and something perhaps Consumer Duty can take credit for. Indeed, we often focus on the pressure our advisers are under, I think many Lenders will be looking at 2025 as either a re-set, continue the ‘good’ work they have done in 2024 or try and re-invent themselves. We could see further consolidation as we have seen this year with the Coventry/Co-Op and Nationwide/Virgin Money mergers - or take overs depending on your point of view. I assume most Lenders will be comfortable with their pipelines as we go into the new year as opposed to where many were in 2023/24, their main job will be to balance those two old chestnuts of volume and value. As ever, margin will be at the forefront of their decision making until the volumes are not coming in, and then to go back to my first paragraph, it will be all change! Opportunities abound I think in 2025, just looking at the Product Transfer opportunities that could turn into remortgage business - with a total value for the year of circa £400bn this is great news for advisers. Whilst I am sure Lenders will look to protect their back book and price hard in this area to retain, there will likely be just as many other Lenders who will aggressively target this market to turn it into new business for them. That should be good news for advisers who can get a realistic proc fee for a remortgage as opposed to a PT - if certain Lenders are involved (!), plus a chance to re-evaluate their clients Protection, GI, wills,
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