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New homes ‘desperately needed’ to stem rising prices

Joanna Faith
Written By:
Joanna Faith
Posted:
Updated:
10/04/2014

The UK desperately needs to build new homes to stem the surge in house prices, an industry body has warned.

The Royal Institution for Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said a shortage of properties coming onto the market “is a major concern”.

“For the market to operate effectively, we desperately need more homes in areas where people want to buy and want to live,” said RICS chief economist, Simon Rubinsohn.

“Until this happens we’re likely to see prices to continue to increase and it is going to be ever harder for many first time buyers to conceive of ever owning their own home.”

The trade body’s latest survey found buyer enquiries increased in all parts of the UK last month, with the exception of Wales where new interest was static after strong growth in previous months.

However, it said the property market continued to be hampered by the lack of homes coming onto the market.

New instructions from vendors continued to fall in March as the predicted ‘spring bounce’ failed to materialise across the UK, the report said.

The increase in activity continues to be accompanied by rising house prices.

During March, 57 per cent more surveyors across the country saw prices rise rather than fall.

Outside London and the South East, prices experienced the most noticeable growth in the South West and the East Midlands.

With no indication that the imbalance between buyer demand and homes on the market is going to change any time soon, surveyors expect prices to continue to increase as we enter the summer months.