The Sunday Times - UK (2022-05-22)

4 May 22, 2022The Sunday Times

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housebuilding programme.

Between 1952 and 1958 some

2.15 million homes were built,

1.4 million by local authorities,

according to Savills.

In the 1960s housebuilding

continued at an average rate

of more than 350,000 homes

a year, peaking at 425,830

in 1968; however, private

developers were delivering

more than half by this time.

By 1992 local authority

housebuilding had all

but ended.

Housebuilding fell

to its lowest level in

2010, when just

135,980 homes

were built. Today

the Conservatives

seem to be trying to

distance themselves from

their target of 300,000 new

homes a year as Boris

Johnson’s rallying cry to

“build, build, build” falls flat

— last year it is estimated that

just over 214,000 homes were

completed, including 37,500

by housing associations.

Cook says: “As the housing

market is affected by politics,

so is housebuilding.

Westminster’s decision to

strip councils of their funds

to build heralded the end of

the building boom, which

dominated the first half of the

Queen’s reign.”

prices dropped 26 per cent —

including a drop of 18.6 per

cent in just 18 months — with

prices remaining depressed

from 2007 until 2013.

During the pandemic (end

of 2019 to the end of 2021)

prices gained 13 per cent. “In

real terms house prices are

essentially back to where

they were in the third quarter

of 2007,” says Lucian Cook,

head of residential research

at Savills. Let’s hope we

don’t relive the crash

that came next any

time soon.

Even the

phenomenal house

price growth over

the past two years

pales in comparison

with previous booms. The

highest inflation-adjusted

price growth of the past 70

years was a little over two

decades into the Queen’s

reign, with prices rising by 32

per cent in real terms in the

year to September 1973.

The most significant period

of prolonged growth was from

1995 to 2007, when prices rose

by 173 per cent in real terms.

In which year did we build

the most homes?

The Queen’s accession to the

throne coincided with an

extensive local authority

MARKET

WATCH

compared with £260,771 in the

first quarter of this year,

according to analysis by Savills

estate agency. This means that

house prices have increased

by 365 per cent in real terms

over the Queen’s reign.

Government statistics show

that in 1952 men earned £8.70

a week (women £4.60), while

today it is £615; this means that

homes were about four times

the average (male) earnings,

compared with eight times

now. Mortgages were slightly

less affordable, though, with

the Bank of England base rate

O

rder the bunting,

brush up on your

scone making: it’s

time for a jubilee

party. To get you

into the spirit we present a

royal jubilee property quiz.

How much did a house

cost in 1952?

Princess Elizabeth came to

the throne 70 years ago, on

February 6, 1952, aged 25.

The average price of a house

in the UK then was £1,931 —

equivalent to £56,087 today,

when adjusted for inflation —

at 4 per cent compared with

1 per cent today.

How many times have

house prices fallen during

Queen Elizabeth’s reign?

There have been six periods

when house prices have fallen

in real terms (inflation

adjusted) — five of which left

prices down by at least 15 per

cent — although prices only

fell in nominal terms (not

inflation adjusted) in two of

those: the recession of 1989 to

1995 and the global financial

crash of 2007, in which house

THE GREAT

JUBILEE

HOUSE QUIZ

CAROL

LEWIS

@CarolLewis101

Can you

guess how

much the

average

property

was in 1952?

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