In a Hertfordshire town, buyers, sellers and estate agents tell of the effects of Kwarteng’s mini-budget
The phone has all but stopped ringing at Mullucks estate agent in Bishop’s Stortford – except for calls from buyers with bad news about collapsing chains.
Since the chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget two weeks ago, a chill has spread through the Hertfordshire commuter town’s housing market. Viewing numbers, house prices and client confidence are all cooling rapidly after lenders pulled thousands of mortgage deals, only to return with far pricier interest rates.