ECB officials, meeting under the presidency of Mario Draghi for the first time, cut the benchmark interest rate by 0.25 of a percentage point to 1.25 per cent.
The decrease in the ECB rate will see the cost of a typical €250,000 tracker mortgage fall by about €32 a month.
Government statistics show that the number of newly built homes fell last year to just under 120,000 – half the level needed to keep up with growing national demand. London saw the largest decrease (27 per cent) in new home building with just 18,000 new properties coming on to the market. Overall the UK now has a shortage of around a million homes, with the deficit rising by 100,000 homes a year as people live longer and increasingly live alone. This will surely add further pressure to the rental market. Read more at the London Independent’s website.