British house prices dipped in March when buyers were bracing for the expiration of a temporary tax break on purchases, mortgage lender Nationwide said.
Average prices fell 0.2 per cent from February to £232,134, slowing the pace of the annual increase to 5.7 per cent from 6.9 per cent in February.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said the slowdown in March followed a 0.7 per cent rise in prices in February when the market was still caught up in a mini boom.
"Given that the wider economy and the labour market performed better than expected in recent months, the slowdown in March probably reflects a softening of demand ahead of the original end of the stamp duty holiday before the chancellor announced the extension in the budget," Mr Gardner said.
Britain’s housing market soared last year following Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s stamp duty land tax holiday, unveiled in July. The tax break, which removes the levy from the first £500,000 of the purchase price of a main residence in England and Northern Ireland, caused a surge in transactions.
UK mortgage approvals dipped in February when buyers expected Mr Sunak's property tax break to expire, although levels remained the highest since March 2016, Bank of England data showed this week.
UK lenders approved 87,700 home loans in February, down by almost 10,000 on January and significantly lower than the peak of 103,700 in November. However, approval levels were still 30 per cent higher than the same month a year ago.
Mr Sunak extended the tax break in his March budget to keep the market buoyant in the months ahead as the country slowly eases its Covid-19 restriction measures.
The SDLT holiday is set to continue until the end of September, though from June onwards the threshold for the nil rate band will decrease.
Looking at the first quarter of 2021 in the UK, Northern Ireland saw the highest level of annual house price growth with a 7.4 per cent increase compared to the same period a year ago, while Wales and Scotland recorded growth of 7.2 per cent and 6.9 per cent respectively.
England was the weakest performing nation in the three months to the end of March with a 6.4 per cent increase compared to last year, a slight slowdown on the fourth quarter of 2020.
Mr Gardner said recent signs of economic resilience, along with the stimulus measures announced in the budget, such as the extension of the furlough scheme, stamp duty holiday and mortgage guarantee scheme, suggested that housing market activity is likely to remain buoyant over the next six months.
“It may be that the recovery continues to gather momentum and that shifts in housing demand resulting from the pandemic continue to lift the market,” he said.
“However, if the labour market weakens towards the end of the year as policy support is withdrawn, as most analysts expect, then activity is likely to slow nearer the end of 2021, perhaps sharply.”
Fighter profiles
Gabrieli Pessanha (Brazil)
Reigning Abu Dhabi World Pro champion in the 95kg division, virtually unbeatable in her weight class. Known for her pressure game but also dangerous with her back on the mat.
Nathiely de Jesus, 23, (Brazil)
Two-time World Pro champion renowned for her aggressive game. She is tall and most feared by her opponents for both her triangles and arm-bar attacks.
Thamara Ferreira, 24, (Brazil)
Since her brown belt days, Ferreira has been dominating the 70kg, in both the World Pro and the Grand Slams. With a very aggressive game.
Samantha Cook, 32, (Britain)
One of the biggest talents coming out of Europe in recent times. She is known for a highly technical game and bringing her A game to the table as always.
Kendall Reusing, 22, (USA)
Another young gun ready to explode in the big leagues. The Californian resident is a powerhouse in the -95kg division. Her duels with Pessanha have been highlights in the Grand Slams.
Martina Gramenius, 32, (Sweden)
Already a two-time Grand Slam champion in the current season. Gramenius won golds in the 70kg, in both in Moscow and Tokyo, to earn a spot in the inaugural Queen of Mats.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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What is tokenisation?
Tokenisation refers to the issuance of a blockchain token, which represents a virtually tradable real, tangible asset. A tokenised asset is easily transferable, offers good liquidity, returns and is easily traded on the secondary markets.
