Richard, I've heard a lot of anecdotes about people in their thirties and early forties moving out of London when children arrive because they can't afford a family home. (And the sort of thing I'm talking about is a 110 m2 terraced house in a decent suburb, not the proverbial Chelsea mansion.)
I suspect that the price rises you're seeing in Southend and Winchester are a ripple effect by those displaced from the capital.
Rises of 12% to 14% during a recession when mortgages are still hard to come by is a really surprising result.
There was recently a comment from one of Boris Johnson's (mayor of London) advisers that he was surprised that young people weren't rioting in the streets over accommodation costs. So I suspect at some point something will have to be done, but that'll be tempered by the government wanting to keep property prices high, as MPs have tended to do well out of it.
money will move from the weak hands to the strong hands.
at a time when most cant afford a mortgage, those that can will buy and lock others out forever.
i saw this coming and i see it coming to australia too, but less so.
i honestly thought i, myself, was a crackpot for thinking this but it seems its eventuated.