4 2GM Monday February 21 2022 | the times
News
The average asking price of a house has
risen by nearly £8,000 this month, the
biggest jump in more than 20 years.
According to Rightmove, the prop-
erty portal, the average price of a house
coming on to the market is £348,804,
about 9.5 per cent higher than it was a
year ago.
In the two years since the pandemic
started, asking prices have risen by
nearly £40,000, compared with £9,
in the previous two years.
James Forrester, managing director
of Barrows and Forrester, an estate
agency, said: “We continue to see high
numbers [of buyers] fighting it out for a
very limited level of stock, the result of
which is an inevitable boost to property
values.
“However, we’re also seeing sellers
pre-empt this high demand and
enter the market at a far higher price
point to take advantage of this buyer
desperation.”
Tim Bannister, a director at Right-
move, said: “The data suggests that
cent. The average asking price in the
capital is now £667,001.
There are signs that in some areas the
heat may be coming out of the market.
In Wales asking prices have risen by
13.2 per cent over the past year, but in
the past month are up by only 0.4 per
cent to £238,304. In the East Midlands
prices rose by 13.3 per cent over the year,
but were up by 0.4 per cent in the past
month to £267,846.
Asking prices are almost always
higher than sold prices: Hamptons, theElite universities have added £2.2 bil-
lion to their coffers during the pan-
demic, prompting calls for students to
be refunded for allegedly substandard
online learning.
Figures from a freedom of informa-
tion request revealed that despite lock-
downs imposed during the health
emergency, Russell Group universities
have experienced the biggest increase
in student numbers for more than ten
not stopped over the past two years.
A freedom of information request by
The Sunday Telegraph showed that uni-
versities in the group had amassed a
collective surplus of £2.2 billion since
the beginning of the pandemic.
This prompted Robert Halfon, the
Conservative chairman of the Com-
mons’ education committee, to tell the
paper that refunds should be made.
“What better use than to give students
their money back,” he said.
Regulators should insist that “stu-dents get the money back that they de-
serve”, Halfon added.
Commenting on the surplus, Molly
Kingsley, of UsforThem, a parents
group, said: “The first thing to do is to
offer the students and then the taxpay-
er a refund.
“Why are universities profiting from
student’s misery?”
The Russell Group said universities
had “worked hard to prioritise students
and provide the best possible experi-
ence during the pandemic”.Jonathan Ames Legal Editor
Covid reflections Colin Reid, a pioneer in kiln-cast glass sculpture, shapes Open Eye, inspired by his experiences during the lockdown. It will feature in Together We
Rise, a sculpture exhibition at Chichester Cathedral in June, involving 27 artists who kept in touch with the world outside their studio through weekly Zoom meetings
Fairtrade sales are up
Shoppers are buying more
ethically produced items, as
diverse as cocoa, bananas, wine,
gold and cosmetics, according to
the Fairtrade Foundation. It said
that sales rose by 14 per cent in
2020, the latest year for which
figures are available. As Fairtrade
Fortnight begins today it said that
two out of three people chose to
buy its products.Heist actor is jailed
An actor who appeared in The
Hatton Garden Job, a film about
the safe deposit heist in 2015, has
been sentenced to three years
and four months in prison for his
role in drug exchanges involving
cocaine with a street value of
£50,000. At Maidstone crown
court Ross Harland, 34, pleaded
guilty to conspiracy to supply a
Class A drug.Woman killed by car
A 71-year-old woman pedestrian
died in Manchester after a car the
police had tried to stop with
emergency equipment mounted a
pavement. A man aged 64
suffered serious injuries. A man
aged 35 has been arrested in
connection with the incident and
Greater Manchester police has
referred itself to the Independent
Office for Police Conduct.AACCCDEG
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Cryptic clues every day onlineRUSSELL SACHGive your students a refund, cash-rich universities told
years. At the same time, many of the 24
members of the self-selecting associa-
tion were given £115 million in taxpayer
funded furlough cash.
The figures prompted accusations
that Russell Group universities “profit-
eered” from students by keeping maxi-
mum annual tuition fees of £9,
when most courses imposed pro-
grammes of remote learning and subsi-
dised costs at taxpayers’ expense.
Education experts also pointed out
that the flow of foreign students hasHouse prices jump by £8,000 in
a month, the fastest for 20 years
people are by no means done with their
pandemic-driven moves. Such a signifi-
cant societal event means that even two
years on from the start of the pandemic,
people are continuing to reconsider
their priorities and where they want to
live. High demand and a shortage of
available stock are supporting a rise in
prices and a new record average asking
price this month.”
The property portal noted an 11 per
cent increase in the number of people
registering to sell their homes in
January compared with the same time
last year. However, there was also a
16 per cent rise in the number of people
looking to buy, suggesting that the
imbalance between supply and
demand is set to continue. Every estate
agency has 40 properties on its books,
including those under offer, according
to Rightmove.
However, as more companies recall
staff to the office, London has recorded
a 24 per cent jump in buyer inquiries,
the largest annual increase in the UK. It
also recorded its highest annual rate of
asking price growth since 2016 at 7.3 perestate agency, has reported that the
average seller in England and Wales
sold their home for 99.7 per cent of the
asking price in 2021. Last week the
Office for National Statistics said that
the average sold price in the UK was
£274,712 in December, 10.8 per cent
higher than 12 months previously.
Rightmove said that on average it is
taking 44 days to sell a house in the UK.
The quickest place to sell is Scotland,
where it takes 34 days, followed by 38
days in the southwest. The slowest are
London, with an average of 68 days, and
Wales, where it takes 46 days.
“The rising cost of living is undoubt-
edly affecting many people’s finances,
especially those trying to save enough
for a deposit to get on the ladder or to
trade up,” Bannister said. “However,
despite rising costs and rising interest
rates, the data right now shows demand
rising across the whole of Britain.”
However, economists predict that
the housing market is likely to slow
down later in the year as inflation,
interest rate rises and increases in the
cost of living kick in.Carol Lewis Deputy Property Editor On the move
350340330320310300Average asking price £000sNote: figures released on the 21st of each monthFMAMJ J A S OND J FSource: Rightmove^20212022Entrepreneur dies at 31
Jamal Edwards, the entrepreneur
who helped to launch the careers
of musicians including Ed
Sheeran, Rita Ora and Jessie J,
has died at the age of 31. He was
the son of Brenda Edwards, the
singer and Loose Women panelist,
and set up SBTV, a platform for
new music that began as a
YouTube channel. He was made
an MBE for services to music in
2014 and was an ambassador for
the Prince’s Trust youth charity.
The cause of his death yesterday
morning was not disclosed.McCartney gets back
Sir Paul McCartney is to headline
Glastonbury this year after the
2020 festival he was due to play
at was cancelled because of the
pandemic, it was reported last
night. The former Beatle will
perform on the Pyramid Stage in
June a week after his 80th
birthday, according to The Sun. It
will make him the oldest artist to
headline at Glastonbury.