COMMENT - HMRC property transactions - comment from Just Mortgages

31 May 2023

Following the announcement from HMRC today that the provisional seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of UK residential transactions in April 2023 is 82,120, 25% lower than April 2022 and 8% lower than March 2023 this is a comment by John Phillips from national broker firm Just Mortgages.

[Just Mortgages is one of the largest mortgage brokerages in the UK with more than 600 mortgage advisers working on either an employed or self-employed basis.]

John Phillips, national operations director at Just Mortgages said: “This drop in property transactions is disappointing but not unexpected after a surprisingly strong March. It's been a turbulent time in housing market with widespread disappointment that interest rates climbed to 4.5% this month although it’s predicted that this is where they will plateau before falling thanks to inflation finally moving in the right direction.

“We are still getting reports of strong enquiries for new mortgage applications from our brokers across the country and many believe that resilient house prices have maintained a faith in the mousing market and the underlying security of bricks and mortar. Although most of the headlines about the housing market are financial, we should remember that people are buying homes and not just houses and that’s what is really important and driving new business. We fully expect transactions to increase over the coming months as interest rates fall and lower inflation reduces the cost-of-living burden.”