Andy Bruce

LONDON, (Reuters) – The British housing market saw little signs of slowing down amid a tightening cost-of living. In February, the price rise reached an eight-month peak.

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said that a net surplus of +79% of its members indicated a rise of home prices in February. It was up from January’s +74% and the highest level since June. A Reuters survey of economists indicated a reading of +73%.

According to the report, other research shows that Britain’s housing markets are still strong going into 2022 despite losing temporary tax incentives on purchases of property in the second quarter of 2021.

RICS expressed concern about the ability of the housing market to maintain its current strength, despite there being no sign that it is slowing down.

Simon Rubinsohn is RICS’ chief economist. He stated that there are “great clouds of uncertainty over economic prospects” as high energy prices keep rising and Bank of England wrestles with managing monetary policy.

“Despite this all, it is not clear that there has been any shift in the mood music about the expectation for rents or house prices.”

The survey revealed that all regions of Britain had high expectations for price increases in the next 12 months.

In the coming 12 months, rents are expected to rise by on average 4.5%. RICS reported that the proportion of surveyors who expect rents to increase was at its highest level since December 2012.

Rubinsohn indicated that the price rises would be due to a lack of sellers and strong demand.

He stated that the risk was that the imbalances would exacerbate the crisis in cost-of-living and create additional challenges, especially for the poor.