How Will the Bank of England Rate Rise Impact the Housing Market

Kelly Sharman, Sales and Marketing Director for the WhatHouse? ‘Housebuilder of the Year’ Hayfield said: “Today’s decision to increase the Bank of England Interest Rate to 1% will have an impact on the mortgage market and housing affordability.

“This is the fourth consecutive rise by the Monetary Policy Committee and is reflective of inflation currently being around 7% and rising, which hasn’t been the case since the early 1990s. However, all the signs point towards the current strong new homes market continuing to grow.

“Good housing stock in prime locations remains very limited. Residential land still remains highly competitive and very few ‘oven-ready’ opportunities are coming to the market, thus pushing costs up and limiting stock availability. Furthermore, agents are reporting a lack of new instructions coming to the market, which inevitably increases demand. Unless there is a marked increase in properties coming onto the second-hand market, prices for new homes could potentially be driven up further. However, from Hayfield’s perspective, our zero carbon ready homes continue to be in very high demand by aspirational house hunters at every rung of the ladder.”

In 2020, Solihull-headquartered Hayfield took the decision to proactively install air source heat pumps, underfloor heating, smart EV fast-charging points, and fibre-optic broadband into all new and upcoming developments, in line with its strong ESG foundations. These features – alongside its current build specification – ensures all new Hayfield homes are zero carbon ready.

Hayfield has nine live sites in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Worcestershire and Wiltshire, where executive family homes are being constructed in prime semi-rural and edge of town settings. Hayfield is seeking to deliver a turnover of £150m during 2022, while the company gears up to deliver 500 homes annually, supported by a five-year landbank.