Press Round Up July 2026

Thu 20 Aug 2026

Property sales agreed in London are down nine per cent since last year, according to portal Zoopla, as buyers adopt a more cautious wait-and-see approach. Jeremy Leaf, principal of Jeremy Leaf & Co, told The Standard: “A combination of too much property on the market across various price ranges, as well as continuing uncertainty about the protracted war in Iran and the subsequent impact on the economy, is proving lethal as far as homebuyer and seller confidence is concerned. Sales are taking much longer and it is proving increasingly difficult to generate commitment. However, the overwhelming majority of sales which have been agreed are proceeding, although inevitably more slowly and suffering relatively few price negotiations."

Should you ever buy a flat? Property portal Zoopla found that the average house now costs 1.7 times the price of a typical flat. Michael Zucker, chartered surveyor at Jeremy Leaf & Co, told The Sun that horror stories of lessees stuck in blocks with cladding issues have made buyers extremely cautious of buying flats.

New prime minister Andy Burnham is reportedly looking at potential proposals to replace council tax and stamp duty. Jeremy Leaf told The Negotiator: “Recent history includes many attempts at trying to capture ‘windfall’ increases in land value partly attributable at least to public investment and/or planning, although sadly most have failed. In our view, the hardest nut to crack is arguably setting the tax at a rate which does not discourage development while at the same time incentivising the release of further opportunities. Andy Burnham’s latest bid is laudable but doesn’t seem to have been well thought through as far as its likely impact on the operation of the market is concerned.”

UK house prices were unchanged in June, according the latest Nationwide house price index. Jeremy Leaf told IFA Magazine: “There is no doubt worries about the economy and especially mortgage rates and energy prices, partly prompted by the protracted Iran War, have put a dampener on house price rises. However, sellers are trying to hold firm while buyers in price ranges where there is more stock have the whip hand and are mostly demonstrating that power where they can. There is an expectation that we may be close to the top of the bottom rather than the bottom of the top and as around four out of five sellers are buyers, the smart set are moving on by concentrating on the difference between the two levels rather than being fixated on achieving a standout figure.”

Some sellers are still pricing their properties too high as they fail to recognise the new market realities. Jeremy Leaf told Estate Agent Today: “Property prices have held up surprisingly well, bearing in mind continuing concerns about the impact of war on the cost of living and energy prices, as well as mortgage rates in particular. However, we are finding reluctance of some owners to recognise the new market realities of reduced confidence and difficulty of generating offers is holding back transactions.”

Rental demand is picking up, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, with the strongest increase in prospective tenants for more than a year. Jeremy Leaf told Landlord Zone that a significant number of landlords have sold their properties, often flats, due to increased tax and the Renters’ Rights Act regulatory responsibilities: “As a result, there’s plenty of choice which is putting a dampener on rents."

An I Paper reader was gazumped when trying to downsize. Jeremy Leaf told the paper: “Gazumping is often market-driven: if the market’s rising, demand is rising for a property and the seller is tempted to accept an offer for sometimes thousands more.” However, he believes that legislation to tie buyers and sellers into a contract sooner may not be the solution: “Who will decide what is reasonable when it comes to rescinding on a contract? How independent and fair will it be?"

The Bank of England held interest rates again at 3.75 per cent in July. Jeremy Leaf told Inside Conveyancing: “The recent fall in inflation has given the Bank of England some respite from cost-of-living pressures which have been building since resumption of the Iran War hostilities, and explains this hold. However, the relief is likely to prove short-lived as the impact of oil, energy and other prices will probably prove harder to manage when the next decision-time for rates comes around. The level of interest rate is so crucial, particularly at the moment, to maintaining activity, not just in the price-sensitive housing market but across the wider economy where stability is key.”