London

DEMAND for UK housing dropped to a six-month low in February, said Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in its monthly survey of real-estate agents that was published on Thursday. A measure of enquiries from potential buyers fell to zero from three in January. A gauge of instructions from sellers also declined, remaining below zero for a 12th month.

Economists expect home price growth to cool this year as accelerating inflation erodes household incomes and Brexit uncertainty clouds the economic outlook.