Brexit uncertainty affecting the Lincolnshire housing market

House price growth has fallen slightly in Lincolnshire since the EU referendum, Land Registry figures show.
Brexit uncertainty has caused the housing market to slow downBrexit uncertainty has caused the housing market to slow down
Brexit uncertainty has caused the housing market to slow down

They show that the area has resisted the worst of the national trend, with growth in prices across the UK dropping to around a third of their previous strong levels.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) says that Brexit uncertainty, a drop in foreign investment and stretched affordability have all played their part in stunting growth.

Home Office figures show that in June 2016, the month the UK voted to leave the EU, the average sale price of properties in Lincolnshire was £163,455 – a 15.5 per cent increase on two-and-a-half years before.

Brexit uncertainty has caused the housing market to slow downBrexit uncertainty has caused the housing market to slow down
Brexit uncertainty has caused the housing market to slow down

In the same period following the Brexit referendum, the average increased by 13.9 per cent, to £186,875 in January.

It is a picture reflected across the East Midlands, where house price growth dropped from 16.5 per cent in the two-and-a-half years before the referendum, to 12.2 per cent afterwards.

Across the UK, growth dropped from 19.6 per cent to 6.1 per cent.

Simon Rubinson, RICS's chief economist, said a combination of factors meant that all regions of the UK were being affected.

He said: "There are affordability issues in parts of the country, particularly in London and the south east.

"Taxation is also a big issue – if you look at what has happened in terms of the buy-to-let market, the returns are now relatively limited.

"But when we asked our members for our last survey, despite attempting to get them away from Brexit, they said Brexit uncertainty was the main factor."

Mr Rubinson warned that a deal for Britain's departure from the EU was unlikely to be the end of uncertainty for the housing market, or lead to a sudden rise in prices.

But, he added, for many younger buyers looking to get on the property ladder, this may not be such a bad thing.

The number of properties sold in Lincolnshire in 2018 showed a slowdown in the local market.

The data, available to the end of November, shows that 12,278 properties were sold over the 11 months.

It was a four per cent drop on the number of sales in the same period in 2017 – across the UK, sales dropped by 5.5 per cent.