What slump? Sales of £1m homes hit record

THE number of homes in Britain sold for a million pounds or more has soared to record levels despite fears of a property slump.

The increase was driven by a huge market surge in the north of England, says Lloyds Bank.

Sales of £1million-plus homes last year soared by 60 per cent in Yorkshire, 46 per cent in the north-west of England and 28 per cent in the West Midlands, against a national average of 5 per cent.

Many of the hot spots are in Cheshire and around Manchester, where high-earning Premier League footballers can live within commuting distance of their clubs, a Lloyds spokesman said.

Sales in London were slowed by an increase in stamp duty on high-end properties and the million- or-more market increased by just 1 per cent last year. However, the capital still had the lion’s share of home sales in this price bracket.

Louise Santaana, head of wealth lending at Lloyds, said: ‘ Overall, 2017 was slow for the UK economy, with high inflation and low wage growth.

‘But high-end homeowners and investors in many parts of Great Britain are starting to regain their confidence, with exceptional growth seen in Yorkshire and the Humber and north-west England.’

Overall the number of £1millionplus homes sold in Britain in the past ten years has risen by almost three-quarters to 14,474.

Lloyds says overseas buyers, who are behind a sizeable portion of purchases in London, are likely to be holding back until the smoke clears after Brexit. However, moves by the Government to reinvigorate the market are likely to lead to more sales this year, the bank believes. That includes the growing number of homes worth seven figures or more.

‘There are thousands of homeowners occupying million-pound properties across the country, many of whom may be considering downsizing, relocating or extending their existing homes,’ a bank spokesman said.

News of the sales surge comes after fears of a market slowdown. Nationwide warned earlier this year that it expected prices to flatline throughout 2018 because tough economic conditions are squeezing household budgets.

In its monthly report for April it said prices had fallen by 0.2 per cent, but were up 2.1 per cent when compared to last year.

However, the number of mortgage approvals to home-buyers dipped by 10 per cent in the 12 months ending this March.

Experts say this reluctance to spend is because consumers have more limited purchasing power. The Bank of England’s small interest-rate rise last November is also thought to be a factor.