Everything is going up. Most of us have felt the pinch on our pockets resulting from the cost of living crisis and increasing mortgage rates. This can have a massive impact on stress levels to the extent that it can also affect people’s ability to work. Financial advisors have a duty to step back and take the time to explain to clients the possible impact of stress on household earnings. After all, if you were signed off work due to stress, how would you be able to keep up to date with your financial commitments?

Landlords have had to endure a somewhat negative perception over the years but, by and large, this is a community who are keen to demonstrate their ongoing support for tenants. A positive feature which was especially apparent over the course of the pandemic and increasingly so during a period when a host of additional financial burdens continue to impact household finances across the UK.

No household or business across the UK has escaped the escalating costs of an array of goods, services and borrowing over the past six to twelve months. Of course, the impact of this additional financial pressure will vary from individual to individual and from business to business but in the wake of an eleventh consecutive interest rate hike, the impact on residential buyers, landlords and even tenants is evident.

According to new research from Octane Capital – which analysed the current cost of the average buy-to-let mortgage and how this monthly repayment has increased in the last year – the cost of maintaining a monthly buy-to-let mortgage interest payment has climbed by 75.7% in the last year, with those making a full mortgage repayment each month seeing an increase of 31.6%.

The bright lights and big city life have long been an attraction for homeowners and renters alike. Although, this allure did lessen in the early parts of the pandemic as people demanded more space – both internal and external – and many looked to more rural regions.

Urban living enjoyed a resurgence as the pandemic waned, but the old faithful economic cornerstones of supply and demand appear to be bucking this trend once again.

According to recent data from Rightmove, low levels of suitable property, soaring rents, and wider financial pressure caused by increased living costs are fuelling an exodus of renters from cities across Great Britain.

After a relatively quiet December and January for the lettings market, February saw some much-needed momentum return to help generate stronger rents and a significant fall in rental voids.

This is according to market analysis from Goodlord which suggested that strong demand among tenants saw the average void period for a rental property in England drop by 26% in February – from 23 to 17 days. The biggest changes were seen in the North West, where voids went from 27 days in January to just 18 days in February – a steep drop of a third (33%).

Charlotte Harrison, Interim CEO - Home Finance, Skipton Building Society for Intermediaries, shares her market predictions for 2023 and what they may indicate for borrowers, homeowners and first-time buyers.

As I write on what is referred to as “blue Monday” am I feeling that sense of gloom, with Christmas cheer and relaxation a distant memory? Perhaps.

But a little less daunted by what’s to come and instead, relishing a new set of challenges that face us following the backdrop record levels of lending seen in 2022. In my view the outlook for 2023 certainly isn’t all doom and gloom.

So, looking at the year ahead, what can we expect?

To start with, I think it's likely we will continue to see rises in the Bank of England base rate, but that doesn't necessarily mean customer rates are going to increase in the same way.