In this week's blog, alongside the usual roundup of headlines and announcements from the sector, we wanted to pause and recognise an exciting milestone in our business. We are thrilled to announce that Invest&Fund has reached the milestone of £300 million distributed to the visionary and talented property developers that make up our client base. This achievement underscores our commitment to empowering the real estate industry and supporting the dreams of ambitious developers across the UK. From ground-breaking projects to transformative developments, our journey to this milestone has been marked by innovation, trust, and unwavering dedication.
As a leading player in the property development sector, we take pride in being a catalyst for growth and success. This milestone is not just a number; it represents the countless partnerships, creative endeavours, and shared successes with our valued clients. We see that we are moving into a period of exponential growth. As a solution-orientated fintech, the solution is the amalgamation of an investable burgeoning asset class and the need for liquidity in the SME development space in the most efficient and disintermediated way possible. That need for capital is growing, and we are in a prime position to service clients' requirements. We have successfully repaid over 200 million to investors, proving that the model built on deep industry experience, independent monitoring and an unwavering commitment to credit is scalable in a diligent and high-performing way.
As we reflect on this achievement, we're reminded that success is a shared journey, and we are immensely grateful for our trust and partnerships; we thank every developer who has chosen Invest & Fund as their lending partner. As we celebrate this achievement, we remain steadfast in our growth ambitions, driving progress and shaping the future of property development in the P2P space.
According to analysts speaking to Bloomberg, moving onto the news and continuing with the upbeat, positive sentiment for the segment, Morgan Stanley has officially revised its outlook on the UK housing market. Based on the positive data sets we have previously referenced in these blogs, combined with the flattening of UK mortgage rates and positive sales data so far for quarter one, they are now highly confident that the steep contraction in pricing will be evaded. Previously, we have referenced that a solid indicator to watch with UK housing to gauge market sentiment is the performance of prominent UK homebuilders, so its helpful to see here that Morgan Stanley has upgraded and raised price targets for Persimmon PLC to a stronger buy, eager to reflect to investors that market is coming back strong.
Another respected voice in the industry, the Royal Institute for Chartered Surveyors, has recently posted the results of its latest Residential Property Market Survey. This is a fantastic indicator for us to review as it presents us with some independent and impartial data to back up some of the rhetoric. The data confirms that although buying activity is down, it's up 10% from where it was in November, moving it to the point of almost neutrality between buying and selling for the first time since April 2022. This is a positive sign for the market, which has been on a solid downward trajectory based on these metrics through the latter half of 2023.
To temper the sentiment slightly and paint as realistic a picture as possible, the latest round of ONS data shows that average house prices have dropped by 2.1% since November 2023. The ONS says the average UK house price was £285,000 in November – £6,000 lower than 12months prior. It would be remiss at this point as well, not to mention the latest round of CPI data, coming in hot at a trend reversing 4%, slightly bucking the narrative that a series of central bank rate cuts could be on the cards for this year, both here and in the US. We haven't seen much evidence of panic in the lending markets; the UK 10-year Swap rate at the time of writing has been tracking upwards since the announcement, but we are still below where we were last year. It's as if the market has had enough of worrying about inflation, which would have been a great blog title on a different day.
To reiterate an ongoing theme in these blogs, it's all about balance and perspective. It's clear to see the retracement here, but the public calls for the doomsday scenario in housing have quietened for now.
Invest & Fund has returned over £200 million of capital and interest to lenders with zero losses, showing the rigour that governs our business.
To take maximum advantage of this robust and exciting asset class, please visit www.investandfund.com or contact Shaheel at shaheel@investandfund.com.
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