'Don’t have the grit’ Liam Halligan blasts ‘Bank of England Nine’ amid rates warning
The 'Bank of England nine' have come under fire
GB NEWS
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) have come under fire in a scathing attack as the number of house sales fall.
A leading property website claim the number of house and flat sales in the UK this year is set to be the lowest in a decade.
Zoopla's monthly house price index found levels were down a fifth so far compared to 2022 in an analysis of homes sold subject to contract.
GB News’ Economics and Business Editor Liam Halligan says a significant portion of the blame lies with the Bank of England, who have raised interest rates 14 times in a row in its battle to bring down inflation.
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According to Halligan, the nine economists comprising the MPC don’t have the “intellectual grit and determination” to halt the vicious cycle.
The MPC is the committee which dictates the UK’s interest rate, and is chaired by the Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey.
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“I personally don’t think those nine economists on the Bank of England’s MPC, including Andrew Bailey, have the intellectual grit and determination to say ‘hold on guys, let’s just hold interest rates, let’s allow the impact of these interest rates to feed through into the economy’,” he said.
“It generally takes 12 to 18 months for it to have an effect because they were so slow to start raising interest rates at the beginning because they were so remiss about inflation.
“They’re going to keep raising interest rates to try and salvage their credibility.”
Weighing in on the discussion was GB News presenter Bev Turner, who said that the current trend is likely to have an adverse effect on the housing market, but it will keep builders busy.
UK house and flat sales have fallen again according to Zoopla
PA
“You know who this story is good news for about people not moving? House builders”, she said.
“I’ve been getting some quotes at the moment because I’m having some work done on the house and it’s a total headache.
“The builders are telling me they are working non-stop because people aren’t moving. They’re renovating their houses.”
Zoopla forecast that sales will be the lowest since 2012 by the end of the year, with around one million completions to be made in 2023.
The group said it “highlights the deep impact of recent economic changes on the housing market”.
The firm also blamed the expected 21 per cent decline on a fall in buyers with mortgages.
“We expect the number of mortgaged sales to drop 28 per cent on last year. On the other hand, cash sales will fall just one per cent compared to 2022”, they said.
The report also found that UK house prices have risen 0.1 per cent in the last year, marking the slowest rate since 2012.
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