Kristalina Georgieva’s warning comes as Brent crude rises above $101 a barrel
The UK housing market has come to a standstill, ahead of the introduction of the government’s Your First Home scheme targeted at first-time buyers.
The latest figures from Lloyds Banking Group show prices flat last month, following a 0.3% dip in August. The average property now costs £298,441, while annual growth was also flat.
While the market overall has been fairly subdued, property prices have so far proved resilient during a period of higher mortgage rates, which has been driven by changing expectations around the future path of Base Rate. That’s mirrored in wider economic data, with household spending holding up better than many expected despite energy and other cost pressures arising from the Middle East conflict.
Whether that picture continues is likely to depend on how confident consumers feel that the latest cost‑of‑living pressures will prove temporary. Confidence has long been a key driver of housing market activity, and will play an important role in shaping demand over the remainder of this year and into 2027.
The question will be: is the UK investable in the future? I hope it will not come to that.
