Though it is five years since the onset of the credit crunch, its legacy will continue to shape the housing market in the next five years.

First, it sets the economic backdrop. The resulting weak economic recovery provides few drivers for national house price growth, and low interest rates (even accounting for high lenders’ margins) limit pressure for house price falls.

It also influences patterns of prospective house price movements, whether between different locations or tiers of the market. We have been left with a much lower transaction market in which the distribution of equity and economic growth will combine, widening the gap between the traditional market leaders and laggers.