The spectre of hyperinflation left very deep scars amongst German citizens over many decades from the 1920’s onward, given their experiences under the Weimar Republic after the Great War. In January 1923 a loaf of bread cost 250 Marks but by November of the same year it cost 200,000 million Marks. Yes, you read that correctly. (source # BBC archives).

Readers accustomed since the mid 1990’s to the relatively benign inflation, as measured by official CPI data in the UK, will find the above example totally incomprehensible. Obviously it is a very extreme example but as we report in our lead article on page 15, inflation and its possible impact on property values ahead should be a subject of increasing concern given global trends as a result of the pandemic.

As mentioned here last month and increasingly now across all mainstream media channels, we are experiencing a boom period phase in residential values, in particular outside of inner London. Andy Haldane, chief economist at the Bank of England (BOE) has warned this week that the UK faces a potentially economically impoverishing 1970’s style inflation spiral if the BOE does not act quickly. These are words to take serious note of and to assess the potential consequences for your property portfolio and development projects.

And on page 48, John Corey offers his opinion on the subject of inflation and what we might need to consider to protect and potentially enhance the value of our property investments, in what may become a more turbulent period than we have seen for some years.