UK housing, confidence show signs of Brexit strain in first week of 2019

Government has yet to secure a deal on exiting the EU

The first week of the new year brought a slew of bleak reports for the U.K. economy, highlighting the scale of the challenges to come as Britain prepares to leave the European Union.

Data Friday showed the housing market had its worst 12 months since 2013 last year, consumers remained reticent about borrowing and a gauge of services, the largest part of the economy, stayed sluggish. The latter report, combined with measures of construction and manufacturing, indicates growth may have slowed to 0.1 per cent in the final quarter of last year, according to IHS Markit.

“The economy effectively has ground to