Rise in house sales in October but difficulties continue to mount for renters

RICS UK Residential Market Survey October 2024

• Agreed sales and new buyer enquiries see further rise
• Overall house price measures continue to rise
• Confidence that this trend will continue in the near-term
• Renters continue to be squeezed with lower supply and rising prices in lettings market

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) UK Residential Market Survey for October 2024 found that the residential sales market continues to strengthen.

House prices overall also continued to rise (+16% net balance). All regions report price growth apart from Yorkshire and the Humber, and the South West, with figures indicating decreasing prices (-23% and -4%, respectively). The perception of rising prices across most of the UK is supported by new buyer enquiries registering a +12% result in October. This extends a run of growing demand to four successive months.

Looking to the future, a rising share of respondents believe that house prices will continue to rise over the next three months, with this indicator moving to +20%, which is up from +12% in September. Virtually all parts of the UK are expected to see a rise in house prices in the year to come, led by firm growth across Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Unfortunately, the chasm between the supply of properties available for let and rising public demand continues to expand. A net balance of +19% reported increasing tenant demand over the three months to October. At the same time, landlord instructions, which is the metric measuring landlords making their property available for rent, fell over the same timeframe. This is evidenced by a net balance reading of -29%, which is its weakest reading since the end of 2021. Unsurprisingly, a net balance of +33% of respondents expects rental prices to be driven higher over the coming three months, due to this mismatch between supply and demand.

Much of the results for October were impacted by respondents waiting to see what would be announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn Budget. The announcements have led to rising bond yields, which could potentially negatively impact the market going forward, whilst respondents in several regions note the importance of "competitive pricing" to support sales activity. Woes for renters persist as rental properties continue to disappear from the market and demand remains resilient in most regions.

RICS President, Tina Paillet, said:

"The growth in residential sales could be further supported by recent interest rate announcements by the Bank of England. Meanwhile, the pending expiration in the higher stamp duty threshold in spring 2025 may cause homeowners and first-time buyers to rush to take advantage of the current rate, but this will likely be followed by a weaker trend after the deadline has passed.

"Our data continues to indicate that renters are feeling the pressure from a limited supply of rental properties and rising rents. While the Autumn Budget announcement of immediate stamp duty increases for landlords acquiring rental properties may increase opportunities in supply for owner-occupiers, it will make it more challenging to address the critical shortage of rental homes.

RICS Head of Market Analysis, Tarrant Parsons, said:

"The UK housing market saw a continued pick-up in activity through October, with the recent improvement in buyer demand translating into growth in the number of sales being agreed. Just as importantly, forward-looking sentiment points to this brighter trend remaining in place of the coming months. That said, the rise in bond yields following the Budget, alongside a general increase in financial market implied interest rate expectations over the past couple of weeks, will likely present something of a headwind for the market to contend with over the short term."

-ENDS-

Notes for editors:

The full RICS UK Residential Market Survey may be found at this link. Commentary from survey respondents regionally can be found in the economic pdf on the back pages - you are free to use these.

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Kris Hicks

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