I suspect that the best bit of luck BTL investors might now have is an imminent election - Brown will try to prop up the housing market until after the vote and then it's all down hill from there. The smartest BTLrs will have got out already, some may just manage to escape in this pre-election period. The rest can look forward to financial ruin, bankruptcy and possibly eviction from their home residence. Won't that be a fun irony - buying a house at auction - the repossessed home of a BTL investor - at a knock down post-crash price. And the ex-BTL investor? S/he will have the challenge of finding a home to rent, having a credit history which is full of county court judgments, bankruptcy etc. Better start reserving your place on that bus shelter bench now!

Clive, Sussex, UK

This is just a temporary blip. House prices are going to continue rising strongly for decades. Why? Because the number of new houses being built is the lowest for 40 years, and the government aren't going to do anything to disturb that statistic, since they know that if they do, they'll be out. As British workers' buying power steadily falls towards parity with that of workers in India and China, the City has a major opportunity to advance larger loans to them; 100 year mortgages will become common, and a much higher proportion of the population will be forced to rent. Mass home ownership is a historical anomaly in England that only occurred during the first few post-war decades, however the trend of the last 27 years shows a more historically normal state of affairs being restored. British workers have low expectations and can be relied upon to meekly accept this restoration of their natural station in life. So much has already been achieved since 1979, after all.

Simon Jones, London,

The strong UK economy that Labour crow about every day is built on house price inflation and mortgage debt. There has actually been very little real creation of wealth and all the consumer spending has been fueled by banks lax lending standards allowing people to use house equity as a cash machine. People are living in a state of giddy disillusion. As evidenced by recent data, personal debt has rocketed but people feel better off. This is a recipe for disaster and leads to the creation of a nation of debt slaves.

Ed, London,

"The housing market is slowing under pressure from the five interest rate increases pushed through by the Bank since August last year"

Maybe - or maybe you just can't go on having double digit growth in property prices when wages are only increasing in single figures. Sooner or later that disparity must hit a brick wall.

The increase in interest rates and the repricing of credit generally in a short period means that rather than just running out of steam, the housing market will reverse sharply.

MarkS, Leeds,

The economic growth and what a brilliant chancellor Brown was, that we are always hearing from the Labour sycophants is beginning to look just a bit ridiculous as the economy begins to unwind. Anyone could have had the same growth figures that Labour brag about having started from a very firm footing established by a Tory chancellor. That amazing economic start that Brown had was soon squandered and the largest debt in our history replaced that firm footing and the so called growth was little more than a mountain of debt. The coming months will see the last of all the Labour crowing and the start of the spin and lies to try to explain how the economic genius of Brown was little more than a myth.
Also I still cannot understand how Brown has seemingly escaped his considerable responsibility in the Northern Rock debacle

D Case, Newquay,

It is now being admitted that the housing market has fallen. Almost certainly it is has crashed.
The question now is, how far? Houses are about 2-3 times overvalued by historical affordability criteria. But low interest rates might be here to stay, and there is a lot of pent up demand for housing. On the other hand, highly leveraged buy to letters will have to sell into a falling market if a recession hits, and they will, rightly, get no help to keep their properties from the state. Then immigration will be limited soon, and more housing will be built.

I am reckoning on a fall to about half current values. Not enough, sadly, to make it easy for young people to buy homes, but far enough to keep price : income ratios within some semblance of historical levels.

Malcolm McLean, Bradford, UK

Now that none of us normal mortals can no longer afford to live in London or elswhere for that matter the doom and gloomers seem to think that we care that prices are about to fall. Yippee, did the buy to letters care about me. Hope they go through the floor.

Frederick, London, UK

We have been warned over a number of yearsby the World Bank and other external financial institutions that the U.K.s heavy reliance on the property market and the service industry could lead us to considerable vulnerability in the event of downturns in the economy brought about by higher interest rates and unsustainable repayments negotiated by reckless mortgage brokers.It may well be the time to hold that election since in six months time a whole new set of financial implications may see this"boom"period collapse.

RICHARD, SEATON, U.K.