Consumer spending rises as house prices pick up

Stronger spending on the high street and a pick up in activity in the housing market provided fresh evidence today that the British economy is emerging slowly from its steepest postwar decline. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said its members were more upbeat about the outlook for house prices than they have been since the property market peaked in the spring of 2007, while the British Retail Consortium said good weather and bargain offers had tempted consumers into the shops last month. But both RICS and the BRC warned that recovery was tentative. Despite surveys from the Halifax and the Nationwide pointing to a summer rebound in house prices, RICS said that only 14 per cent of agents had reported rising property values in the latest three months, with 23 per cent recording a fall and 62 per cent no change. The BRC said retail sales in July were 3.6 per cent higher than in the same month a year ago.