House price inflation was up by 1.4% annually last month despite December typically being one of the slowest in the property market, figures from Nationwide Building Society show.

House prices in Britain are a much-talked about subject - and a borderline obsession for some. But after a rollercoaster ride in the past decade, what will happen next?

The lowest rate on the market is now just 2.84 per cent - on offer from More to Life - making it cheaper than ever to borrow against your home after you retire. But there are catches.

Halifax's house price index showed the average property climbed £9,136 last year to £238,963, but the bank said that it only expected 'modest' rises in the year ahead.

The number of five-year fixes on offer for those with a bigger deposit is now even greater than the number of two-year deals, which have traditionally been the most popular mortgage-type.

Numbers crunched by mortgage broker Private Finance reveal that picking a 'bonus-friendly' mortgage lender could add a significant chunk onto the amount some workers could borrow.

Sainsbury's Bank is under pressure to guarantee that its mortgage customers won't be sold to a 'vulture fund' or private equity firm.

The average price of newly-listed homes for sale jumped 2.3 per cent to £306,810 in a month, as the traditional New Year bounce combined with post-election confidence.

Getting a new deal will take longer, as lenders are struggling with huge demand from anxious customers requesting repayment holidays on their loans.

The crash will be driven by the rental sector as the amount tenants can afford to pay plummets due to wage cuts and unemployment. Yorkshire and East Anglia look like being the hardest hit.

Industry insiders have claimed that some lenders have already started to automatically decline applications for those who have taken a payment holiday.

Lockdown will result in the loss of 526,000 home sales this year if there is no intervention - starving the economy of at least £14.3 billion, says Knight Frank.

House price inflation slowed from 1.5 per cent in January to 1.1 per cent in February, the Office for National Statistics and Land Registry index reported

Property website Zoopla said some 373,000 property transactions are stuck in the pipeline as people are effectively stopped from moving home.

Nationwide warned the outlook for the market remains 'highly uncertain', while Lloyds' worst case prediction is a 30% fall over two years.

Getting the deal done looks set to become a tag-line for the property market as transactions remain on hold and more people look to move outside of big cities like London and Birmingham.

By assuming a greater power than he has, President Trump threatens to imperil the very foundation of American democracy by effectively attempting to place himself above the law

'I'm not going to be president of the United States,' Michael Bloomberg told me when I interviewed him for CNN in 2012. 'I'm not going to run for president - for the presidency.'

Three things happened yesterday that made me think the sh*t with coronavirus just got very real.

It's the photo that has shot round the world faster than coronavirus. Meghan and Harry, under an umbrella flashing movie star smiles just like Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds in Singin In the Rain.

'Trump seems hell-bent on pursuing a very self-destructive course when it comes to handling the biggest test of his presidency, and it could see him get kicked out of the White House.'

This is war. Make no mistake, for my generation, the COVID-19 coronavirus is the biggest threat to civilian life that we will have experienced since World War 2.

I watched President Trump's COVID-19 press briefing yesterday in which he stated with unequivocal confidence: 'It's something we have tremendous control of.' Really, Mr President?

The staggeringly crass and selfish stupidity of spoiled millennial idiots like Vanessa Hudgens will help Coronavirus kill more people and they need to drop their blinkered stupidity and wake up!

PIERS MORGAN: Boris Johnson is flailing so badly it's going to cost a lot of lives. From the moment the coronavirus reared its ugly head, he's shown an extraordinary reluctance to tackle it head on.

President Trump wants to reopen America for business. Frustrated by the election-threatening collapse of the US economy, he is desperate to see his beloved stock and job numbers going up.

I've also been repulsed by some of the outrageous, offensive and occasionally downright obscene conduct of a minority of people who have tried to exploit the crisis for personal gain.

PIERS MORGAN: Britain is a country of heroic NHS lions led by dangerously incompetent donkeys - and many thousands of people are going to die as a result, including many trying to save them.

In just five short minutes, Her Majesty gave the greatest speech of her life.

PIERS MORGAN: The health of one man, however important he is, shouldn't turn attention away from the horrifying new coronavirus death figures for the UK.

It's become an increasingly nauseating spectacle and last night, President Trump reached a new low with a press briefing performance that was frankly an utter disgrace.

Britain's care homes are now exploding with coronavirus, both among the residents and the heroic care workers trying to look after them, writes PIERS MORGAN.

The US, which despite all President Trump's claims to the contrary, was shamefully slow to respond to the threat, has had more coronavirus deaths than anywhere else in the world.

President Trump stooped to a shameful new low by suggesting people suffering from COVID-19 be injected with toxic disinfectant. It's hard to imagine a more stupid thing for a President to say

I used very forceful language to convey my dismay at such reckless, shocking and woefully irresponsible behavior. And for that, I make no apology.

PIERS MORGAN: Boris is back! And everything's going to be great! That was the emphatic message sent to the country today.

Who could defeat Boris in the race to become MP for Uxbrdge? Which Labour MP does not know the price of a stamp? And what has Lord Prescott to say for himself?

In a letter to Fred Goodwin (pictured) in 2007, the SNP leader said: 'It is in Scottish interests for RBS to be successful and I would like to offer any assistance my office can provide.'

The UK and the British constitution have been dramatically weakened, all because Messrs Cameron, Miliband and Clegg never took Scotland or the referendum seriously.

Why is the poptastic former Radio 1 DJ causing a headache for his employers; who had to move their conference after it clashed with the Scottish referendum and what will Boris do next.

How many times will Ed Miliband use the word ‘crisis’ in his keynote conference speech today to illustrate all that is wrong with Coalition Britain? Asks ANDREW PIERCE.

Betting magnate Stuart Wheeler believes Ukip will hold the balance of power in a hung Parliament after the next election but has put a sizeable wager on David Cameron winning an overall majority.

Lord Hill dismissed talk of a move to Brussels to be the UK's EU Commissioner but just a few weeks later, Hill has been named in that exact role, writes ANDREW PIERCE.

Bet365, which has donated more than £400,000 to Labour, risked embarrassing the party by announcing it is to relocate its international remote operations to the tax haven of Gibraltar.

Equality was the theme of the dinner hosted by Ed Miliband to raise money for Labour’s women candidates at the next General Election.

David Rowland made the highest bid of the night at a small gathering of Tory supporters at Christie's auction house hosted by the Prime Minister and his wife Samantha.

Ken Clarke and Lord Mandelson are becoming joint presidents along with Danny Alexander, the Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury, of a new group called British Influence.

During an otherwise confident performance on the BBC's Andrew Marr show this weekend, the Prime Minister stumbled badly when he was challenged over fox hunting.

How very unbrotherly Left-wing Labour can be. Not all of them have rallied to defend their bearded poster-boy Jeremy Corbyn against attacks from the likes of Tony Blair, writes ANDREW PIERCE.

Grant Shapps privately believed his key role in Road Trip 2015 – the campaigning operation aimed at winning votes in marginal seats – would catapult him to party leader.