Retailer says will prioritise investment in business over bonus; house buyer demand weakest since late 2023, survey shows

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Despite tripling full-year profits, the John Lewis Partnership has decided not to pay a staff bonus for the third year in a row.

These are solid results, which show that our customers are responding well to our investments in quality products, value and service. We have made good progress with much more still to do.

The UK housing market appears to be losing some momentum as the expiry of the temporary increase in stamp duty thresholds approaches.

Some concerns are also being expressed by respondents about the re-emergence of inflationary pressures and the more uncertain geopolitical environment. That said, looking beyond the next few months, sales activity is seen as likely to resume an upward trend with prices also moving higher.

Meanwhile, despite a flatter trend in demand for private rental properties, the key RICS metric capturing rental expectations is still pointing to further increases, demonstrating that the challenge around supply spans all tenures.

The window of opportunity has effectively slammed shut on buyers, because even in February they knew there was next-to-no chance of getting a sale sorted before the end of the stamp duty holiday.

Unsurprisingly, it has sucked some of the life out of the market. House prices have continued to rise, but not as quickly, and agents are fairly convinced we’ll be in this lull for a while yet.

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