It seems likely the houses are overvalued, on the basis that ratio of house price to income has increased dramatically, and also that a significant fraction of

It seems likely the houses are overvalued, on the basis that ratio of house price to income has increased dramatically, and also that a significant fraction of the pension provision in the country is investment in property. I'm not sure what the housing market collapsing would mean for the UK but am doubtful it would fix more problems than it spawns. For what it's worth, the tax system is aggressively punitive towards companies that want to buy real estate. Landlords with mortgages can't offset the interest against profit any more so a bunch of those are no longer viable concerns and sold up. Some conquence to vacant property might be good, beyond the already punitive stamp duty when you go beyond the first one. I think you get hit for capital gains when selling non-primary residence as well.