Press Round Up January 2025

Tue 18 Feb 2025

‘UK house prices finished 2024 at an all-time high, according to Nationwide building society. Jeremy Leaf, principal of Jeremy Leaf & Co, told The Daily Mail: “Prices have been stronger for cheaper properties and areas but overall more choice has prompted a better balance between supply and not just demand but increasingly proceed-able demand. Boxing Day was a good example – a much lower proportion than usual of nosy neighbours as buyers and sellers come to terms with the new normal; interest rates unlikely to fall quickly any time soon whereas wage rises are still exceeding inflation.” He expanded further in The Standard: "We expect this pattern of sales progressing slowly to exchange with little or no renegotiation or fall through to continue, with first-time buyers desperately trying to take advantage of the stamp duty concession before the beginning of April.”

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors came to a similar conclusion in its report, detailing a strong end of the year for the sales market. However, on the lettings front, Jeremy Leaf told Money Week that landlords are still leaving the market as they are worried about the Renters’ Rights Bill “which will make it harder to remove disruptive or non-rent paying tenants…. Nevertheless, shortage of stock, particularly of smaller one- and two-bedroom flats, has kept rents higher than they might have been – a trend which is likely to continue for the next few months at least.” He explained further to City AM: “We are… starting to see some reductions [in rents] compared with this time last year when you compare similar properties and the [prices] achieved.”

The latest figures from HMRC indicate that there were 96,330 residential property transactions in December, 19 per cent up on the previous December. Jeremy Leaf told inews: “Completed sales are a much better indicator of market health than more volatile house prices. However, these figures reflect activity mostly from around three to four months ago but of mortgaged and cash sales, so demonstrate considerable market resilience at a time of pre- and post-Budget uncertainty."

Stamp duty is a huge revenue raiser for the Treasury, with £13 billion paid last year according to Coventry Building Society. Jeremy Leaf told This is Money: “[Stamp duty] represents an increasing deterrent for many home buyers, particularly those in lower price ranges. [Yet] their involvement is vital to maintaining activity throughout the market now that the concession is being withdrawn from April. At the very least stamp duty rates should keep pace with house price inflation so that it doesn’t become an even heavier burden and reduce market activity further.”

Turning to this year, annual house prices slowed to 4.1 per cent in January, according to Nationwide, as affordability pressures continue. Jeremy Leaf told The Mirror: “Accountability concerns have never gone away. The market remains tight and little change is expected over the next few months at least, irrespective of any possible interest rate reduction.”