Revealed – how property was crippled by the recession

Revealed – how property was crippled by the recession

10:06 AM, 11th February 2011, About 13 years ago

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New figures from the government show how the banking crisis and recession crippled the housing market.

In 2008/09 – the latest figures available from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) – only 9% of all households in England (2.0 million) had moved to their current homes within the previous 12 months, the lowest number since records began in 1994/95.

Between 2007 and 2008 the number of property sales over £40,000 in the UK fell by 44% from 1.6 million to 900,000 due to the recession.

The picture was similar across England and Wales with property transactions falling by between 42% and 48%. Transactions in Scotland fell by less (33%), while in Northern Ireland they fell by more (61%).

In 2009, the average price paid for a home was £194,235, down 8.1% on 2008.

Changes in the average price paid for homes varied little between England and Wales, at 8.4% and 8.2% respectively. Scotland saw a smaller decrease (2.6%), while Northern Ireland a much larger one (15.7%).

British Bankers’ Association figures show that in the last 12 years the number of loans approved for house purchase peaked in March 2002 at 92,912.

The number of loans approved in July 2007, the month before the credit freeze began was 62,363. Approvals fell rapidly to reach a low of 17,421 in November 2008.

The average value of mortgages for house purchase peaked in June 2007 in the UK at £159,600 before decreasing to a low of £116,100 in December 2008.

The number of repossessions reached its peak in 1991 when 75,500 properties were repossessed.

Repossessions then fell to reach a low in 2004 of 8,200. Since 2004 repossessions have increased nearly six-fold to 47,900 in 2009.

Jen Beaumont, from the ONS, said: “In the recent recession we have seen a large rise in repossessions, but not to the same extent as in the previous recession of the 1990’s. This could in part be due to lower interest rates and unemployment this time round.”

The Council of Mortgage Lenders confirms 36,300 repossessions were made in 2010 – 24% lower than in 2009.


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