Housing crisis will dampen any Brexit positives

Housing crisis looks set to worsen before improving, writes Jim Power

This week we were treated to two further pieces of evidence showing just how hot the residential housing market is becoming. The basis for the heat is clear; demand is totally outstripping supply and this is manifesting itself in spiralling rents in a pretty dysfunctional rental market and spiralling prices for those who want to buy.

On the demand side, there are easily understood factors such as demographics, the strong labour market and the general buoyancy of the economy driving demand. What is less clear at this early stage is the impact that the politically-influenced relaxation of the Central Bank’s lending criteria last year, and the introduction of the help-to-buy scheme are having.