DEVELOPMENT
UK HOUSING CRISIS IN THE MIDST OF THE PANDEMIC. EVAN MAINDONALD Founder & CEO Melt Property www.meltproperty.co.uk
The recent COVID -induced lockdown caused an unprecedented drop of 20.4% in UK GDP in the second quarter of 2020 - the worst quarterly fall since records began. It took us back to where we were in the mid-’80s in terms of levels of economic activity. Following on the heels of a 2% decline in Q1 – also lockdown related – technically this places us in a recession.
072 – Qandor – Issue No. 6
I use the word ‘technical’ because the overall Q1 decline was caused by a 6% decline in March – which means that there was 4% growth in January and February. That was a strong start to the year, and the signs are that, with lockdown now lifting, things are coming back to life with a bang. Without lockdown, it’s likely that we would have seen a couple of quarters of strong growth in the first half of 2020. Despite this, there’s no doubt that the pandemic has accentuated what is one of the critical issues that the UK is faced with: the housing crisis.
