July Market Update

July was a month of distractions, with fine weather, the World Cup and a new Prime Minister vying for attention. For buyers, the diversions proved too much. Tenants, however, had to deal with a rental market as hot as the heatwaves. Here’s how the last four weeks panned out.

We usually see a small drop in the value of asking prices over the summer - it’s called the seasonal lull -  but with the ‘realistic pricing’ message hitting home, the nudge downwards was quite substantial. Rightmove reported a 1% drop in asking price values, with new-to-market homes advertised at an average of £372,359.

Isolated increases noted

Two regions saw asking prices rise: the spectrum of asking price movement was wide. Yorkshire & The Humber and Wales were the only two UK regions where the asking price increased in July – 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively. The biggest drops were seen in the North East (2%) and in London (1.6%).

Temperatures temporarily tamed demand

Buyers subdued by the sun: with heat alerts advising essential travel only, who can blame buyers for staying at home? Rightmove monitored how record-breaking temperatures affected purchaser activity. It found temporary drops in buyer demand during May (down 8%), June (down 6%) and July (4%) heatwaves.

Pricing unlocking completions: the portal also found sales agreed for the first half of 2026 stayed level with those for this period in 2024, showing there is no contextual slump. Price accurately and purchasers will bite, with Rightmove stats showing 74% of homes that completed this year did so without having a price reduction.

Stamp duty in the spotlight: English buyers will be eager to hear how new Prime Minister Andy Burnham tackles stamp duty. Even if it’s true that stamp duty and council tax will be abolished in favour of one annual land tax, it will be years in the making. Purchasers will be looking for more immediate relief, given new findings from Zoopla.

Tax is almost unavoidable if moving up the ladder: the portal found 4 in 5 existing home movers in every English region, bar the North East, pay stamp duty. First time-buyers have their own story to tell. On a national basis, 40% of first-time buyers nationally pay stamp duty. In London, 80% of first-time buyers pay, while it’s only 10%  in the North of England.

New tenants saw rents rise: the cost of renting a property in the UK has become more expensive. An increase of 1% was recorded in the latest HomeLet rental index. This leaves the average new UK tenancy costs £1,353.

Rents rose in all but one region

England lagged behind: Scotland took the rental value crown, with new tenancies increasing 3.5% in cost during HomeLet’s last monitoring period. Wales was in second spot, posting a 1.8% rent increase. The best performer in England was the North East, where rents rose 1.4%.

Tenant education required: despite it being the most impactful property law change for a decade, many tenants are unaware of the Renters’ Rights Act just before it took effect. A study by The TDS Charitable Foundation found 70% of tenants questioned were unaware of, or did not understand, the Renters’ Rights Act. Within that group, 47% of students had never heard of the Act.

Energy efficiency in the spotlight

Investment ahead of EPC change: Handelsbanken’s fifth annual Property Investor Report confirmed landlords are planning for energy efficiency changes that will see the mandatory EPC rating move from E to C. It said 89% of investors are increasing their investment spend on sustainability features across their property portfolio.

More loans for eco-friendly homes: in the same month, Paragon Bank confirmed it was lending more money to landlords purchasing buy-to -let investments that already had an EPC rating of A, B or C. The £435.7 million lent on the most eco efficient buy-to-lets was up 7.7% on the same period 12 months ago.

If you would like to know more about your local property market, please get in touch.