The UK housing market is cooling, with purchaser demand, gross sales exercise, and new listings all falling additional into damaging territory, based on the newest RICS UK Residential Market Survey for October 2025. Survey respondents largely blamed uncertainty forward of the forthcoming Autumn Finances and potential tax rises.
New purchaser enquiries recorded a internet stability of -24%, the weakest since April, whereas agreed gross sales slipped to -24% from -17% in September. New vendor directions fell to -20%, marking the third consecutive damaging studying and the weakest since 2021. Appraisal exercise, a key lead indicator for future inventory, dropped to -37%, signalling fewer properties coming to market.
Nationwide home costs stay beneath modest downward strain (-19%), notably in London, the South East, and East Anglia. Brief-term expectations level to slight additional declines (-12%), although surveyors stay cautiously optimistic for a medium-term restoration, with 12-month worth expectations again in constructive territory (+16%).
On the rental aspect, tenant demand flattened (-4%), whereas landlord directions fell sharply (-33%), the weakest since April 2020. Close to-term lease development is projected to be modest (+15%), with issues over the Renters’ Rights Act and potential tax modifications weighing on landlord confidence.
The report signifies that the market is more likely to stay subdued via the rest of 2025, with any significant restoration deferred till early 2026, as soon as the affect of the Finances is absolutely understood and seasonal situations enhance.
RICS head of market analysis and evaluation, Tarrant Parsons, mentioned: “The housing market continued to indicate weak spot in October, with exercise ranges drifting decrease amid an absence of purchaser confidence. Ongoing uncertainty surrounding potential measures within the upcoming Finances are regarded as compounding the cautious temper amongst each consumers and sellers, whereas above goal inflation and rising unemployment are additionally a damaging for the market.
“The approaching months will likely be essential in assessing how the market responds to the Finances, which might show a turning level in both course. Larger readability over housing taxation coverage might assist stabilise sentiment, but when the measures introduced add additional strain to exercise, they danger deepening the present slowdown.”
Reflecting on the newest information from RICS, Tom Invoice, head of UK residential analysis at Knight Frank commented: “By the point the Finances arrives, the housing market can have endured three months of intense hypothesis round property taxes. Until there’s a urgent want to maneuver, some consumers and sellers have understandably hit the pause button,. Whereas there will likely be readability after 26 November, the wide selection of tax rises on the desk are more likely to dent sentiment and put downwards strain on home costs.”
Property brokers brace for slowdown as consumers await Finances readability
