The number of houses changing hands in the UK slowed year on year in October due to budget uncertainty and the high cost of moving.
UK residential transactions in October 2025 reached 98,450, 2 per cent lower than October 2024, according to HMRC.
“Today’s transaction results show a mixed-bag… in the main we saw a market on pause,” Nick Leeming, Chairman of Jackson-Stops, said.
Buyers had become increasingly nervous ahead of the autumn Budget, with rumours of various taxes on homes flying around the market.
Reeves decided to slap a council tax surcharge of homes over £2m, a relief to those who had prepped for a more significant levy.
“The Chancellor’s decision to avoid a wider property tax and keep Stamp Duty unchanged should help lift market confidence,” Hamza Behzad, Business Development Director at Finova, said.
But Behzad cautioned that “the mansion tax and higher taxes on landlords may worsen rental pressures, making lender support and efficient decision-making even more critical.”
‘Difficult to see how market will improve’
2025 has seen little change to affordability in the UK housing market, the core issues affecting would-be buyers.
Stamp duty remains a prohibitive bar for many to pass, while high deposits mean buyers often rely on parents or grandparents for support.
Amy Reynolds, head of sales at Richmond estate agency Antony Roberts, said that “nothing has got cheaper when it comes to moving, particularly stamp duty”.
“The pressure on the market remains as before and will do so until there is intervention to stimulate it,” she added.
But lower interest points may provide a bright spot: “An interest rate reduction early in 2026, if not at next month’s meeting, would go some way to encouraging more activity,” Tomer Aboody, director of specialist lender MT Finance, said.
“[But] Assistance is needed in order to encourage buyers and sellers to move, and get the market functioning properly,” he added.