Why the 'Housa' isn't as safe as houses

A new structured product gives you exposure to the housing market without buying property. But think twice before handing over your money, says Merryn Somerset Webb.

I received a press release this week that told me that one in three Brits regularly look in the windows of estate agents to check the market. The only amazing thing about this is that the number isn't higher. Perhaps it's because everyone else is checking the value of their house on Zoopla.

Last weekend was more fun for homeowners than it has been for some time. The Nationwide numbers tell us that on average UK house prices have now risen every month for 12 months in a row. Overall prices were up 8.8% last year.

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Merryn Somerset Webb

Merryn Somerset Webb started her career in Tokyo at public broadcaster NHK before becoming a Japanese equity broker at what was then Warburgs. She went on to work at SBC and UBS without moving from her desk in Kamiyacho (it was the age of mergers).

After five years in Japan she returned to work in the UK at Paribas. This soon became BNP Paribas. Again, no desk move was required. On leaving the City, Merryn helped The Week magazine with its City pages before becoming the launch editor of MoneyWeek in 2000 and taking on columns first in the Sunday Times and then in 2009 in the Financial Times

Twenty years on, MoneyWeek is the best-selling financial magazine in the UK. Merryn was its Editor in Chief until 2022. She is now a senior columnist at Bloomberg and host of the Merryn Talks Money podcast -  but still writes for Moneyweek monthly. 

Merryn is also is a non executive director of two investment trusts – BlackRock Throgmorton, and the Murray Income Investment Trust.