ROOF Blog

Mortgage lending fell by 10 per cent during November as the market suffered its traditional seasonal slowdown, figures showed today. A total of £12bn was advanced during the month, down from £13.3bn in October and 14 per cent less than in November last year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The group said a modest decline was typically seen between October and November, although the 10 per cent fall was ‘a little larger’ than normal. But it added that market conditions were holding steady and it did not expect much change during the coming months. The CML’s economist, Paul Samter, said: ‘There could be a modest decline in underlying house buying activity in early 2010 due to the stamp duty holiday ending, with activity ‘bunching’ over the last few months of 2009.’

The era in which all Britons aspire to own their own home may be coming to an end, according to the Housing minister, John Healey.

In a controversial speech, he suggested that Britain may be moving towards a European model, with renting on a roughly equal footing with buying.

He said home ownership had fallen from 71 per cent of households in 2003 to 68 per cent today, noting that this trend began in 2005, well before the recession.

A new model with greater flexibility is needed, he argued, allowing people to change from buying to renting without moving home.

‘Not all or nothing, but a flexible system which suits the different stages in people’s lives,’ he said.

Opinion is divided over whether buying or renting is the better housing policy.

Centre for Social Justice Executive director Philippa Stroud argues that property ownership is still one of the best defences against poverty.

Royal Society for the Arts chief executive Matthew Taylor counters that home ownership has increased social inequality in terms of the life chances and assets of people who own their own homes, arguing instead that we should foster a massive expansion in the private rental sector and improve the quality of the houses on offer.