The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) UK Residential Property Survey found that ‘several factors of uncertainty reduced momentum’ in the UK’s housing market in February.
Buyer demand weakened to its lowest level since November 2023, as changes to Stamp Duty from April are increasingly influencing the demand slowdown as deadline approaches, along with wider economic uncertainties.
Despite this, house prices continue to rise overall, at a subdued rate, according to the RICS.
Looking ahead
Surveyors expect the market to continue to soften in the short-term, although they believe that house prices will rise over the next 12 months.
In the lettings market, tenant demand was down for the fourth month in a row with landlord instructions also slowing, at a faster rate than demand.
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As a result, the RICS said that rental prices are expected to rise over the coming three months.
Simon Rubinson, RICS chief economist, said: “The UK housing market appears to be losing some momentum as the expiry of the temporary increase in stamp duty thresholds approaches.
“Some concerns are also being expressed by respondents about the re-emergence of inflationary pressures and the more uncertain geopolitical environment. That said, looking beyond the next few months, sales activity is seen as likely to resume an upward trend with prices also moving higher.
“Meanwhile, despite a flatter trend in demand for private rental properties, the key RICS metric capturing rental expectations is still pointing to further increases demonstrating that the challenge around supply spans all tenures.”
