Recovery glitch?

Nationwide’s April index shows that house prices have risen by 10.5 per cent since last year. This finding suggests that the election has not, despite some forecasts, filled the thoughts of the nation to the exclusion of all else. It is possible to discuss the respective TQs (telegenic quotients) of Brown, Cameron and Clegg while checking online the performance of property values in your neighbourhood.

Although the figures are a confirmation of the continuing recovery, the upward trajectory could be slowed by the larger number of properties coming up for sale and the deteriorating job prospects of many potential buyers. The uncertain outlook for employment is, indeed, one factor supporting the market.

Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide’s chief economist, notes that landlords, who may have been thinking of leaving the business, are now earning such good rental income that they have no reason to sell. Their tenants include many workers too nervous about the future even to contemplate house purchase.

Shed culture Some call it a shed. Others prefer the term summer cabin. But whatever name you give to this structure, the increase in its sales appears to be one unexpected side-effect of the mortgage drought. B&Q, which is reporting strong demand for any garden edifice, considers that the trend is caused by the larger number of young adults compelled to return to the parental home because they cannot climb on the housing ladder.

First-time buyers remain the group most likely to be refused a mortgage, mostly because they do not have large enough deposits. The shed/summer cabin provides them with a personal retreat where they can contemplate the woes of their generation. Or perhaps mums and dads go there when overcome with irritation at the invasion of their grown-up offspring.

As the banks are determined to shun first-time buyers whose parents can provide only shelter, not finance, shed culture seems set to flourish. The status-symbol purchase could be the £11,995 summer cabin, pictured above — more a home from home than a lawnmower storage facility. This sum, by the way, is equivalent to the 20 per cent deposit needed to buy a share in a one-bedroom flat in a Leeds affordable housing scheme.