Main tax and advisory agency Blick Rothenberg highlights the weak spot of the UK property market

HMRC’s provisional estimates for UK residential property transactions for the month of April 2023 have been launched right now and paint a bleak image for the UK property market, say main tax and advisory agency Blick Rothenberg.

Sean Randall, a stamp responsibility and property tax companion with Blick Rothenberg stated: “The numbers are the worst figures for a month in over 10 years (apart from the 2 lockdown months of April and Might 2020, when the market was closed to all however those that have been already within the means of finishing).”

He added: “HMRC estimate that solely 67,220 UK residential property transactions befell final month. That is 32% decrease than April 2022 and 41% decrease than April 2021. Displaying a pointy downward development within the variety of folks buying properties. The variety of transactions has been steadily declining since November final yr with solely a short respite in March.”

Sean stated: “The final time the variety of property transactions in a month was decrease was Might 2020 when the nation was within the top of lockdown. You’d then want to return over 10 years to February 2013 to seek out the subsequent month with decrease transactions than 67,220. February itself being notoriously dangerous for transactions on account of being a brief month and straight after Christmas.”

Furthermore, Sean doesn’t imagine the place will enhance within the coming months.

He explains: “Again in 2013 the Financial institution of England rate of interest was at 0.5% which enabled property transactions to select up. Nonetheless, at present the rate of interest sits at 4.5% and is anticipated to proceed rising, this coupled with excessive inflation at 8.7% rising the price of residing (that means folks have much less disposable revenue to avoid wasting for a property), makes it tough to see the downward development reversing for a while. The stagnating property market could result in a fall in home costs, inserting tens of millions of post-Covid home consumers into unfavourable fairness and successfully stopping owners from promoting and persevering with the interval of low property transactions.

“In abstract, it seems that the a long time of excessive property worth development are over and {that a} property disaster is looming. Will the Financial institution of England delay any future rate of interest rises to attempt to rescue the market or is a property market crash a threat they’re keen to take?”