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26 Oct 2019 
Claude 
I chose this topic because Brexit is a topical subject which will have, and already has an impact in the housing market in London and in the UK in general. I’ll talk about “London” especially, because I literally fell in love with this city during my trips.
But first, let my do some recap about Brexit :
Remember the 23rd of June 2016, when UK had to decide whether to leave or to remain in the European Union: Leave won by 52% to 48%. As we can see on the Power Point, English and Welch people are mostly Brexiteers, whereas most of Scottish people are Remainers.
However, Londoners have voted “remain” by 59% (2.26 million) to 40,1%. Multicultural areas, a younger population and highly-educated residents are among a number of reasons that have been put forward to explain why London went against the grain.
The UK and the EU reached an agreement in 2018 but the UK parliament has not approved this agreement. For this reason, the 27 remaining EU countries and the British government have decided to postpone Brexit until 31 October 2019 at the latest.
But 17-18 th October deal. AFFAIRE A SUIVRE : In the absence of an agreement on an alternative arrangement, the default legal position is that the UK will leave the EU on October 31.
Firstly, I’ll talk about the weakness of the current housing market in London, and then about the consequences of the falling prices.
I. A weak housing market in London
House prices in London have fallen at the fastest rate since the 2008 financial crisis.
A. A falling real estate prices…
One of the biggest impact of Brexit is of course the real estate falling prices and values. The economic uncertainty caused by Brexit has undoubtedly affected the market, with house price growth slowing year-on-year. Indeed, according to the Nationwide annual house price index, house price growth dipped to 2.5% compared to May 2018.
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The UK average house price actually slipped slightly between August and September, down 0.2% the 10th month in a row in which annual price growth
Most houses are now selling below their asking price, but things are especially bad – and getting worse – for top-end homes, according to the RICS (the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors). Asking prices represent what sellers want their property to sell for, but won’t necessarily be what buyers are willing to pay – and you may be able to negotiate an even cheaper deal.
B. … which depends on the borough
Some boroughs in London have been particularly more affected than others. I will give some examples :
– Asking prices in Westminster have seen the sharpest fall at 6.3% in a year, the average price is £1,400,270
– Wandsworth : asking prices dropped by 3.5%
– Southwark : -0.5%
– Harrow : -2.3%
The most expensive borough Westminster, and the cheapest is Barking and Dagenham, where the average price is £316,839.
II. The consequences of the falling prices
A. Consequences about the number of selling and rents
The falling prices phenomenon has obviously a link with the number of selling. Indeed, home buyers may have an opportunity to get a better deal, but separate reports suggest they are suffering from a lack of choice, bc sellers are more and more reluctant to put their properties on the market.
Those sellers have another option in case he’s unable to sell: they could maybe rent out a room, or even a whole house. Some reports suggest that the number of rents is increasing.
B. Consequences about the attractiveness
At the same time, an increasingly expensive stamp duty on second homes, and reduced tax relief have reduced the attractiveness of the area for investors seeking to rent.
On the other hand, the fall of the British Pound since the Brexit vote in 2016 is helping to make London real estate more accessible to foreign investors…