Britain’s housing market is showing renewed signs of strain as speculation over major tax reforms unsettles buyers and sellers alike.
According to the latest survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), new buyer inquiries, agreed sales and property listings all fell in August, reversing the fragile recovery that had been taking hold earlier in the summer.
Industry sentiment has been dampened by reports that Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is considering scrapping stamp duty and council tax in favour of a single annual property tax. While no firm policy has yet been set out, estate agents said the uncertainty was already shaping behaviour, with prospective buyers delaying decisions and sellers holding off from bringing homes to market.
The survey recorded a net 17 per cent fall in buyer interest and a net 24 per cent decline in completed sales compared with July. House prices are beginning to slip in some regions, with East Anglia and the South West seeing the sharpest falls, though Northern Ireland continues to buck the trend with values rising.
With the budget now delayed until late November, agents expect the market to remain subdued for several months. Longer-term optimism has also faded: just 9 per cent believe prices will be higher in a year’s time, the lowest level of confidence since late 2023. Combined with persistent inflation and uncertainty over interest rates, the prospect of structural tax reform is weighing heavily on what remains one of the UK’s most sensitive economic indicators.
