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Will the third lockdown derail soaring property values and tentative stock market recoveries?

Welcome back. We hope you had an enjoyable Christmas break – and what a start to the New Year it has been. With the jobs upheaval of a third national lockdown and the likelihood of stock market wobbles post-Brexit, 2021 looks to be just as eventful as last year.
However there are some reasons to be positive about the year ahead. Firstly, the new restrictions are unlikely to put the brakes on Britain's booming property market. Moving home and buying and selling property have been deemed essential activities that can continue during lockdown, the Government has confirmed.
Analysts are becoming increasingly hopeful that, despite a dip in transactions after the stamp duty holiday ends on March 31, house prices will end 2021 higher than last year’s record numbers. Property reporter Melissa Lawford investigates how sound their predictions are in this article.
This year may also bring a solution to the cladding crisis that has rendered almost five million people’s homes worthless. Telegraph Money has long campaigned for a resolution and we weigh up the available options here.
It is becoming more and more likely, too, that the Bank of England will once again have to cut interest rates, pushing them into negative territory. While this would spell bad news for savers, homeowners could actually benefit from a reduction in the interest paid on their mortgage. In Denmark banks are already preparing to offer “free” home loans at 0pc interest.
We took a deep dive into last year’s data, looking at the charts that told the story of 2020 and predicting what 2021 would bring for jobs, property, stock markets, wealth inequality and savings rates.
Experts still expect significant stock market volatility in coming months, so investing selectively is key. Read which funds the Telegraph Money team is backing for 2021 in this article (and see how well our fund picks for last year performed here). We also spoke to well-known historians, economists and psychologists –including Sapiens author Yuval Noah Harari –about how 2020 changed the world and asked fund managers to pick investments based on these conversations.
Knowing what to avoid is equally important, so we let the experts have their say – with government bonds and American tech among their least favourite areas.
The best way to prepare for the year ahead is to know what is coming. You can use this calendar to remind yourselves of the key dates in 2021 and what they mean for your property, taxes and job.
Invest 100k for fun – win 10k for real
It's not too late to join the race for a prize of 10,000 in our Fantasy Fund Manager game. Players build their own portfolio of stocks and investment trusts from the FTSE 350, aiming to make the highest returns before the game ends on Feb 19 2021. It's free to play for subscribers and you must be in the competition by Jan 22 to be eligible for the top prize.
Join us at 7pm on Tues 19 Jan to hear from two professional fund managers as they share their views on the investments that will thrive in 2021 and could propel your portfolio to the winning spot. The event is free for subscribers and you can book your ticket here.
To play, click here. You can find out how last season's winners plan to play for the top prize this time around here. And join our Telegraph Investing group on Facebook here to find out how others are competing.
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In our comments section, Amanda Malas said of We need a definitive plan to solve the cladding crisis that doesn't punish leaseholders: "Under consumer law, if you purchase any goods which prove to be ‘unfit for purpose’ you are entitled to a replacement or a refund. How can it be that those, like my daughter, who made the largest purchase of their life in good faith, have to pay to make the building safe to live in, which should have been a given? What is the point of building regulations if they are later found to be woefully inadequate?"
Join the conversation here