Initially the market is likely to be pleased with the White Paper (WP) in so far as the sector is concerned; there is no revolution taking place which is radically moving from demand-led to supply-led policy (for owner-occupation) nor policies which appear to be aimed directly at industry competitiveness. However, I do not see that being a sustained view and I remain of the opinion that the current (PD) housing cycle will start to roll over in 2019 driven either by rising interest rates or further political shift, hence the market may start to reflect that in 2018. For now I remain neutral/mildly positive on the Housebuilders but would be contemplating pre-cautionary reductions in sector exposure beyond this year or into meaningful bouts of strength.
