6 2GM Saturday August 1 2020 | the times
News
House prices rose at their fastest pace in
11 years last month as buyers piled into
the market after lockdown restrictions
were eased, according to the latest sur-
vey by the Nationwide building society.
House prices increased by 1.7 per cent
last month, the steepest monthly in-
crease that Nationwide has recorded
since August 2009. The average price of
a home in Britain is now £220,936,
1.5 per cent higher than a year ago.
The performance in July represents a
stark contrast to June, when house
prices fell 1.6 per cent month on month
and 0.1 per cent year on year.
Robert Gardner, the building
society’s chief economist, warned that
the increase last month could be a “false
dawn”. Other analysts warned that
demand in the housing market was
House prices surged in July but
economists warn of false dawn
likely to come under pressure as the
furlough scheme came to an end and
unemployment rose.
The Office for Budget Responsibility
said that up to 20 per cent of those on
furlough would be made redundant
when the chancellor’s job retention
scheme closed in October.
The independent watchdog said that
the unemployment rate could climb
from 3.9 per cent to almost 12 per cent.
Lloyds Banking Group and Natwest,
formerly Royal Bank of Scotland, pre-
dicted in their results this week that
house prices would fall by 6 per cent
and 9 per cent respectively this year in
their base-case economic scenarios.
Mr Gardner said: “The bounce back
in prices reflects the unexpectedly
rapid recovery in housing market activ-
ity since the easing of lockdown restric-
tions. The rebound in activity reflects a
number of factors. Pent-up demand iscoming through, where decisions taken
to move before lockdown are progress-
ing. Behavioural shifts may be boosting
activity, as people reassess their hous-
ing needs and preferences as a result of
life in lockdown.”
Hansen Lu, a property economist at
Capital Economics, said: “House prices
bounced back in July, unwinding the
fall seen in June. Along with the pickup
in lending in June, this reinforces our
view that a house price crash is now un-
likely. Although, with the mortgage
holiday and furlough schemes due to
end soon, further modest price falls
may still be on the horizon.”
The Bank of England said that mort-
gage approvals quadrupled in June
from record lows in May.
The government’s decision to cut
stamp duty for all home purchases
under £500,000 will also support prices
in the coming months. Howard Archer,chief economic adviser to the EY Item
Club, said that early evidence from
Rightmove, the property website, sug-
gested that there had been “an initial
beneficial impact” from the move on
stamp duty.
He warned, however, that “the up-
side for the housing market will be
limited due to challenging fundamen-
tals for consumers”.
He added: “Many people have
already lost their jobs, despite the sup-
portive government measures, while
others will be concerned that they may
very well still end up losing their job
once the furlough scheme ends.”
The stamp duty relief, in place until
the end of March, will apply to about
90 per cent of owner-occupier transac-
tions in England. This is likely to feed
into prices, leading to some house price
inflation.
Deadline day relief, pages 62-Gurpreet Narwan
Economics Correspondent
Stately preparation Workers at the Queen’s House, which was built for James I’s wife, Anne, and is part of the Royal Museums Greenwich, get ready to open again
The organisation that acts for
England’s top football managers has
suspended its commercial partnership
with a mobile phone company now at
the centre of a police investigation.
The League Managers Association,
which acts for managers and coaches at
all levels of professional English foot-
ball, has removed Sport Mobile from
the list of corporate partners on its web-
site. For years the LMA has recom-
mended Sport Mobile to its members.
Last month The Times reported
Football managers drop link with Sport Mobile
claims from former members of staff
that Sport Mobile, which boasts that it
has clients at 16 Premier League clubs
as well as other players, coaches, foot-
ball agents and prominent figures in
other sports, operates a billing system
that enables it to either erase or change
telephone numbers on the bills that
they provide to their customers.
Former staff claim it is part of an ex-
clusive service that has been offered to
some clients. It is understood that the
company disputes this and says that
only monetary values can be changed.
The Times also revealed it hasevidence that John Shepherd, Sport
Mobile’s co-owner, appeared to access
the phone records of a Premier League
manager in the presence of a rival man-
ager, who had requested information
about his own mobile phone account.
Former staff have said the company
has supplied “bitch phones” for
customers wishing to keep their extra-
marital affairs secret.
Last month police arrested two men
aged 37 and 62 and executed a warrant
at a premises in Shropshire as part of an
investigation being conducted by the
North West Regional Organised CrimeUnit and the National Crime Agency,
into corruption in sport.
A statement issued on behalf of the
North West crime unit said: “Detect-
ives from the [unit] and the National
Crime Agency are carrying out an in-
vestigation into corruption, which in-
volves perverting the course of justice
and conspiracy and false accounting.”
It is understood Mr Shepherd denies
that such activity has taken place at his
company.
The LMA has declined to comment.
Mr Shepherd has been asked for
comment.Matt Lawton
Amazon satellite deal
Jeff Bezos won permission from a
US communications watchdog to
build a network of more than
3,000 satellites as his company
Amazon competes with Elon
Musk, the Tesla billionaire, and
the British government to provide
ultra-fast broadband from orbit.
The company plans to invest
more than $10 billion in Project
Kuiper. Business, page 48Coach admits assaults
Barry Bennell, a former coach at
Crewe Alexandra football club
and scout for Manchester City
who is serving 30 years for child
sex offences, has admitted six
more offences between 1979 and
1988 against children aged 11 to 14.
Bennell, 66, appeared at Chester
crown court via video link. The
case was adjourned for the
preparation of medical reports.Rare tick-bite diseases
Two people are in hospital after
one was found to have babesiosis,
caused by a parasite infecting
blood, and the other suspected
tick-borne encephalitis, which
affects the central nervous
system. Public Health England
said the patients were expected to
make a full recovery after being
bitten by ticks. It said: “The risk of
being infected remains very low.”Queen’s staff injured
Three members of the
Coldstream Guards have been
questioned by police after four of
the Queen’s footmen were injured
outside a pub near Buckingham
Palace on July 24. Two footmen,
aged 20 and 21, were treated in
hospital and the Queen has sent
her best wishes, the Daily Mail
said. There have been no arrests.
The Palace declined to comment.Setback for Begum
Shamima Begum’s plan to return
to Britain is in doubt after the
Home Office won permission to
take the case to the Supreme
Court. Ms Begum, 20, went to
Syria in 2015 to join Islamic State.
She was found by The Times in a
refugee camp last year, after
which Sajid Javid, who was home
secretary, revoked her British
citizenship. The Court of Appeal
had decided that it was unfair to
ban Ms Begum from appearing in
person to challenge a decision to
strip her of her citizenship.A A B D D E E G
I I I I I L N N
N O O P Q Q R R
S S T T T U U USolve all five clues using each
letter underneath once only1 Scorch ( 5 )2 Misgivings ( 6 )3 Capital city of Libya (7)4 Ecologist’s 1m2 frame( 7 )5 Bitter ingredient in tonic water ( 7 )Quintagram® No 757
Solutions See page 83
Cryptic clues every day onlineTIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE