Swale

There are hundreds of thousands whi bought at the peak. They are the trigger. Teh ammunition is the Eastern Europeans returning home and the people who are losing their jobs.

If one bought during previous peaks (from the 50s onwards), they would take 15 years to get their money back

Trevor, Southfields,

Many landlords will choose to sell. They can always come back to the market in a few years and buy for much less. Some experts are predicting a fifty percent fall from peak to trough. If that is anywhere near right sensible landlords will cut their losses.

Mary, Sydney, Australia

Long term housing price decline combined with non-house price inflation. Even worse than Japan's 90s.

Michael, London,

Shortsighted will sell, most shrewd landlords will hang on to their properties and wait for inevitable shortage of accommodation and put rents up!
Value of property will return with time and better financial climate - just a matter of time!

Of course a war may mean big problems all round ?

BJ, Swale, Kent

Landlords with fixed rate mortgages will, in general, hold. Rising interest rates and more strict lending guidelines will enlarge the pool of renters. Unless populations shrink sharply, that implies increased demand, implying increased rents. Variable rate mortgage buyer/owners may have to sell.

ron davis, Portland, USA

When TV stations start broadcasting home improvement shows at prime time, you know it is time to be concerned!!

sam, Kingston, Jamaica

Savills said the downturn wouldn't hit the £1million plus house. it has!
They recently said it won't hit the £6 million plus market .
They also said the market was due to flatten 6 months ago. it hasnt.
Anyone thought they are worried as thier jobs depend on this?
Face it we are in a downturn.

andy, winchester,

"destabilising the housing market" Surely you mean the exact opposite? The market has been destabilised by cheap credit and BTL, now it is restabilising to a sustainable level. And the quciker it happens, the happier we will all be.

bob travels, stevenage,

Colin, are you saying that you are a greedy landlord who sold last year before the crash?

Paul, Coventry,

The economics of BTL were always founded on property prices rising since yields, even with low interest rates, frequently barely covered outgoings.
Many of those 'last in' in will now be finding difficulty meeting bank interest payments.
There is always a price to pay for financial naivety.

S.M. Cooper, Consett,

Well said Pete, Banstead

vere, camberley,

Landlords to withdraw billions ! to whom are they selling to?

Douglas, Burnley, Lancs

Why this continuing speculation about house prices?. In truth absolutely no one has any idea where house prices will be in 12 or 24 months time. The open market will decide rises or falls. Too many vested parties are trying to influence the market by making speculative predictions that wont work.

pete, Banstead, uk

landlords greed has backfired big time.they all jumped on when the rates were 3.99 %thinking it would never end...well it has rates now 7%.most landlords are struggling..i am lucky i sold 40 houses last year before the crash....greedy landlords should have sold last year.......

colin armstrong, lisburn, n.ireland

Many BTL landlords will sell as they view their properties as short term investments and will not want to suffer a loss.

The dumping of BTL properties on the market will put further downward pressure on prices.

What caused the market to boom will cause the market to go bust!

Costas, Cyprus,

Nick, 1 in 20 houses is empty. There are lots of empty flats. With house prices rising, people could sit on an empty property. Now they need to sell or rent to prevent erosion of assets. Rents across the board will fall.

Lenny, Coventry,

The old spiel 'long term investment' not when values are falling, rents are declining and overheads and the hassle keep increasing. Each night you lay your head on the pillow realising that you are up to your eyes in debt and if you lose your job you could lose everything. Looks like a crazy bet.

Simon, Harrogate, UK

Oh so where are the people who rent out their properties going to live or will they just disappear off the face of the earth? They have to live somewhere, so even if they downsize and rent somewhere cheaper they're still going to be pushing the demand up at the bottom end of the market.

Nick, London, UK