Strongest starts, sharpest increases, and six trends. This week in property.
Housing market sees strongest start in three years: Zoopla
Newly released data from Zoopla has revealed that the housing market started strongly in 2025, with new sales agreed up by 12% year-on-year as some buyers attempt to avoid paying higher stamp duty from April this year.
Temporary reliefs from stamp duty will end in April 2025 in England and Northern Ireland. As a result, first-time buyer demand jumped by over a third in November and December 2024 in the ￡300,000 and ￡625,000 price bands. The greatest savings are to be had by FTBs looking to buy in London and higher value areas of South East England.
While the ending of stamp duty relief has provided a boost to market activity in recent months, there remains an increased appetite amongst UK households to move home in the next two years.
Richard Donnell , Executive Director at Zoopla, said “It is important not to read too much into the increase in stamp duty for more buyers from April as three in five first-time buyers will still pay nothing from April. The extra costs to homeowners remain manageable and unlikely to reduce sales but they will keep price rises in check."
In other news
Which areas of the rental market have seen the sharpest increase in rent over the last decade?
New research from Tlyfe looked at rental market data and which areas have seen the sharpest increase in the cost of renting over the last ten years.
Across England, average rents have risen by 44.4% over the last 10 years and now average ￡1,369 per month. Wales has seen a similar rate of growth at 43.9%, although the monthly cost does remain significantly cheaper at ￡777 per month.
Regionally across England, the East Midlands has seen the highest increase in the cost of renting, up 51.8% in the last 10 years.
Six property trends for UK estate agents in 2025
The property market in the UK is constantly evolving. With advances in technology combined with changes in buyers’ priorities, estate agents need to stay ahead of the curve to maintain their position among their competitors.
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Property management specialist and writer Lucy Cromwell looks at six trends that are having an impact on UK estate agents in 2025 from a surge in build-to-rent developments to the increasing role of social media marketing.
Rents fall for the first time since before the pandemic: Rightmove
Average advertised rents of properties outside the capital have recorded their first fall since 2019, according to newly released data from Rightmove .
The average advertised rent of a home outside of London is now ￡1,341 per calendar month, dropping by 0.2% compared with last quarter and bringing an end to consecutive months of new record rents.
According to Rightmove, while this equates to a drop of just ￡3 in newly advertised rents, it’s a key milestone for the market as the pace of rent growth slows, having accelerated by 12% year-on-year at the peak in 2022.
Rightmove’s property expert Colleen Babcock , said “A first quarterly drop in rents is the culmination of several months of improvement in the balance between supply and demand. While new tenants are still paying more than they were at this time last year, the pace of growth continues to slow."
Navigating the shadows: How ‘right to light’ is shaping urban development
The government’s latest reforms aim to deliver 1.5 million new homes by 2030, tasking local councils with annual housing targets of 370,000 homes. Urban areas with severe housing shortages and high unaffordability are under the most pressure. The reforms encourage “airspace developments,” allowing landlords and developers to extend upwards into the airspace above existing buildings.
While modular construction makes these upward extensions efficient, experts are predicting an increase in disputes with neighbouring property owners over who holds rights to light.
Mustafa Sidki of the construction team at Thackray Williams explains how property professionals can best prepare for and navigate the legal challenges surrounding the 'right to light'