EVENT: “Housing and the Financial Sector in the Short and Long Term: Why Are UK House Prices So High?” – Professor David Miles, Imperial College
NEW DATE AND VENUE: Wednesday 28th June, 9.00am-10.15am, Committee Room 9, Committee Corridor, House of Commons
New City Agenda is delighted to invite you to:
“Housing and the Financial Sector in the Short and Long Term: Why Are UK House Prices So High?”
A talk by Professor David Miles, Imperial College
To register please email dominic.lindley@newcityagenda.co.uk
Why are house prices in the UK so high? Can prices and mortgage debt continue to rise? How is government policy affecting outcomes? David Miles will explore these issues and consider how the property landscape in the UK might play out over the longer term.
House price to income ratios are now close to or exceed their pre-crisis highs. Since 1997, UK house prices have more than trebled. There has been significantly higher growth in London, where the average house price is now close to £500,000 and the average house bought by a first time buyer is now more than 10 times average earnings. Following the financial crisis, the mortgage market has been reviewed by the FCA and the Bank of England now has new macro-prudential tools.
What has caused these trends in house prices and mortgage debt and can they continue? How is Government policy affecting outcomes? What is the fundamental purpose which we want the mortgage market to deliver over the longer term?
David Miles is Professor of Financial Economics at Imperial College Business School. Between May 2009 and September 2015 he was a member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at the Bank of England. His current research focuses on policy issues connected with financial stability, the housing market and the setting of monetary policy. He is involved with the co-ordination between monetary policy and financial stability. His March 2013 paper (“Optimal Bank capital”, Economic Journal) explored the appropriate way to set bank capital requirements.
In 2004 he authored an independent review of the UK mortgage market for HM Treasury. This looked at whether there were any market failures holding back the development of long-term fixed rate mortgages. Prior to his time on the MPC he was Chief UK Economist at Morgan Stanley. He has also acted as a special advisor to the Treasury Select Committee.
This is the second event in a programme of research supported by Pension Insurance Corporation into the purpose of finance. This programme was inspired by Andy Haldane’s speech to the New City Agenda annual dinner examining how we can restore public trust by improving financial education and establishing and communicating the purpose of financial services.
To register please email dominic.lindley@newcityagenda.co.uk
