"It is encouraging to see government initiatives are having an impact"
-Peter Bolton King, RICS Global Residential Director
Another evidence that Britain's property market is gaining pace has emerged as data published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed that house prices soared to the highest level in almost three years, as government measures to support the housing market spurred demand. A gauge of house prices rose to 1 up from minus 2 in the prior month, posting the first reading above zero since June 2010. The data follows a report from Halifax a week earlier, which showed that the U.K. house prices reached the highest in almost three years in April. Moreover, George Osborne pledged to inject around 3.5 billion pounds of loans in the housing market, plus 130 billion pounds of guarantees in March to support the housing market, adding to the "Funding for Lending Scheme" programme introduced with the Bank of England on July 2012.
"It is encouraging to see government initiatives are having an impact," said Peter Bolton King, RICS Global Residential Director. "Help to buy in combination with the Funding for Lending Scheme appears to be giving the market a shot in the arm. Thankfully, sales are expected to pick up over the coming months."
The latest jump "strongly suggests that along with the existing Funding for Lending scheme, help to buy is attracting interest..." RICS said.
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