Some of Britain's most prominent home developers have posted much weaker financial performances following a challenging 2023 for the UK housing sector.

Despite a sharp fall in the number of homes bought by landlords in 2023, the number of limited companies set up to hold buy-to-let properties continues to soar.

The Office for National Statistics says private rents in England experienced a 6.1% rise in 2023, the sharpest annual increase on record.

The Bank of England is likely to acknowledge this week that it is seeing unexpectedly rapid progress in getting inflation down, analysts said, but the central bank is not expected to begin cutting interest rates yet.

The pre-Budget rumour milling has delivered a new plan to solve Britain’s dysfunctional housing market – 1% deposit mortgages.

A new analysis of the private rental sector suggests that between 800,000 and one million more homes are required to meet growing demand by 2031.

Property asking prices went up in January, according to Rightmove, following a busy start to the year for the housing market.

Inflation went in the wrong direction at the end of 2023. It might seem like a small, possibly insignificant, reversal of a downward trend, but December’s rise in the consumer prices index (CPI) to 4% in December from 3.9% in November is a blow to the government and the Bank of England in their battle against rising prices.