Country Houses: Swan-like progress
London: Intensifying rental competition
New Homes: How to buy a brand new house
TAKING THE LONG VIEW
Taxes & preferential treatment for owner-occupiers
Front Cover: Devon
£3,950,000 guide, (Exeter)
Main: Gloucestershire
£7,500,000 guide, (Cheltenham)
Right: Cheshire
£3,250,000 guide, (Chester)
UK MARKET REVIEW NUMBER 58
Published by Jackson-Stops since 1997, the UK Market Review is a concise overview, drawn from insights and data from some 40 offices across the London and Country House markets, plus national statistics.
COUNTRY MARKET COMMENT
Swan-like
Calm-looking statistics give cause for encouragement –especially given the frenetic activity below the surface.
Year-to-date performance figures across this firm’s 40 or so offices show reassuring stability within our country house sales. In almost every instance, with the exception of total properties listed (up 14%), we are a few percentage points up on both last year and the year before. This includes new buyers registering with us and contracts exchanged. Arguably, this is to be expected: mortgage rates have slowly improved for two years now, as have real wages and availability of
properties to buy. What the numbers don’t show is how hard-won that progress has been. As a rule, every successful transaction has involved more viewings, more queries before a sale is agreed and, in most cases, more monitoring and nurturing of dependent sales, than for many years. In some respects this is welcome. Negotiations tend to be calmer, those moving home have a better chance of finding what they really want – and we get a chance to shine, where others fail to do so. There is much for which to be grateful.
INNOVATIVE BUYERS
We are appreciative, too, of the sheer innovation shown by many of our buyers, to make the country house they want, more affordable in the face of interest rates which, though lower, remain high compared with the recent past. Cost-mitigation strategies include maximising office-at-home tax allowances, securing rental income from annexes and paddocks suitable for ‘glamping’ and investing immediately in solar power systems (inexpensive panels plus plenty of roof space apparently make for highly attractive returns). After some years of being shunned, we are also seeing more interest in houses in need of some modernisation. Simply from a tax point of view, this makes sense: a lower price
means less stamp duty. Going beyond this point, more savvy buyers have been looking for houses which fall within their work-todo ‘sweet spot’. This involves thinking about the value of each aspect and what kind of tradesperson will be needed to do the work.
IMPROVING AVAILABILITY OF BUILDERS
One knock-on effect of the slowdown in construction by the major house builders has been greater availability of the local tradespeople they often employ as subcontractors. HMRC figures suggest that three-quarters of self-employed builders (including plumbers, painters & decorators and carpenters) operate below the VAT threshold. This makes them ideal for minimising the cost of renovation work
Norfolk £1,150,000 guide, (Norwich)
Bottom Left: Surrey £2,950,000 guide, (Reigate)
Bottom Right: Lancashire
£2,500,000 guide, (Lancashire)
Left:
Right: North Devon
£2,500,000 guide, (Barnstaple)
Bottom Left: South Manchester
£2,895,000 guide, (Hale)
Bottom Right: Northamptonshire
£825,000 guide, (Northampton)
which can be broken down into smaller, discrete projects – a feature which also allows new owners to spread that cost across a time scale that suits their budget.
TIME TO UNDERSTAND THE HOUSE
Buyers of houses that need updating have the advantage of living with their new home and seeing how their lifestyles and tastes fit with it and with its potential. This invariably prompts changes to their original intentions and minimises the risk of doing anything they later want to undo. It also results in a home that is both more affordable and more specific, in style and function, to its owners. Thus the ‘sweet spot’ for our savvy buyers is a country house which is dated yet structurally sound, habitable whilst work is done and
which has versatile spaces – outside or in –which provide options for adapting to future needs, be they for family, business or personal passions.
WORK AND PROGRESS
Looking ahead, it seems probable to us –and, more importantly, to most of our buyers and sellers – that the current ‘backdrop’ of positive, if painfully slow, improvements in mortgage rates, salaries, availability of homes to buy and of builders, is set to continue over the months to come. This is good news: the current market is not for the impatient and it is hard work for us. But it is one which makes it easier for buyers and sellers to make good decisions and to get what they want.
LONDON MARKET COMMENT
London’s trusted agent
Following a thriving summer market, demand to live in the capital remains at an all-time high.
As the ultimate destination to live, work and study, London continues to attract buyers and tenants looking for high-quality property in the best locations. Strong interest, combined with our proactive approach, means we are consistently receiving exceptional offers, a trend we expect to continue into the autumn months.
This year so far has been busy for both sales and lettings, and with no signs of this slowing down, there is plenty of confidence in the London market. Alex McConnell, Pimlico Lettings Director, says, “With unprecedented demand in the lettings market, competition is intensifying, which is driving up rental prices. In Chelsea, we recently let a four bedroom family home moments from Sloane Square, achieving a 30% rent increase from the previous tenancy.”
We offer an altogether better experience to sellers and landlords who trust us with their property, and our teams strive to
exceed customer expectations. Jackson-Stops provides the reassurance of working with experts who adhere to the highest standards of regulation and ethical behaviour. But don’t just take our word for it, as over 70 per cent of business comes from recommendations and referrals, which reflects the dedication of our hard-working teams, who go the extra mile to deliver a first-class experience.
Above & Inset: Tufton Street £15,999pcm,
Right: Cambridge Street £2,950,000 guide, (Pimlico)
Below: Seven Hills Road £5,750pcm, (Weybridge)
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
Jackson-Stops has established itself as the go-to agent, with offices covering some of the capital’s most sought after locations, including Mayfair and Pimlico in prime central London, and Wimbledon, Teddington and Weybridge in Greater London. We remain committed to our core values and make no excuse for taking a traditional approach to estate agency, guiding and advising our clients through local knowledge. Our network of offices supports thousands of customers at any given time, from UK-based homeowners to international buyers and tenants looking to relocate. Sellers and landlords are reassured by our presence
on the high street and the understanding that our experienced teams visit every property to ensure we uphold the highest standards of service.
EXPERTLY MANAGED
Jackson-Stops has always been guided by the principle that our clients come first and we care for their homes as if they were our own. Landlords choose our Property Management service, as they trust us to maintain their assets meticulously and economically, thereby increasing their return. These managed homes receive the attention of our dedicated Property Managers, who are never more than
15 minutes away from the properties in their portfolio. The team successfully resolves any issues with minimal disruption and expenditure, and is on hand to offer ongoing support and effective solutions.
FIRST-CLASS EXPERIENCE
London remains an exciting place to live and invest, attracting a diverse international client base. Appetite continues to grow for super prime properties, with an influx of overseas buyers and tenants creating high levels of competition. Harry Buchanan, Pimlico Sales Director, adds, “With growing demand for premium homes in Pimlico and Westminster, our average selling price is now 47% higher than the same time last year. This highlights the confidence buyers have in prime central London as a resilient and attractive long-term investment.”
Our impressive performance is driven by the professionalism of our colleagues, who go above and beyond to surpass expectations. Customer feedback continues to be important to us, as we know clients have a choice of who they partner with. We are proud to have
received thousands of Google reviews with an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars. This is a testament to the hard work of our dedicated colleagues, and our teams strive to deliver an excellent customer journey and superior results every time.
COMPLETE REASSURANCE
For the key to our success, look no further than our people. Jackson-Stops invests in long-term relationships, with many of our dedicated colleagues staying with us throughout their careers. We maintain our professional approach by providing outstanding training and development at all levels, giving our customers the confidence that they are working with trusted experts.
The autumn months present an exciting opportunity for sellers and landlords as the demand to live in the capital remains at a record high. If you are curious about the value of your property or are considering a move, our advice is not to wait. Our local teams will be delighted to assist and are ready to provide you with advice tailored to your needs.
£6,500pcm, (Wimbledon)
£2,000,000 guide, (Weybridge)
Above: Chambers Park Hill
Below Left & Right: Hall Place Drive
NEW HOMES & DEVELOPMENTS
How to buy a brand new house
Inside advice and the impact, three years on, of the New Homes Quality Code.
From Oxted to Ormskirk, the response from our new homes colleagues when asked how to choose a new build home, was the same: Who is the developer? Louisa Hooper of the Land & New Homes team at Exeter explained: “Everything about a new house – position, choice of craftsmen, after-sales service – they are all
determined by the developer. If that company has a strong record – and some of ours have a genuine following – you can have confidence in promises made about quality of finishes, timing and more.” By ‘following’, Louisa says she means just that: some buyers are so impressed with their new home that, when changing needs prompt them to move, they actively seek out
Top: Hampshire
£1,700,000 guide, (Midhurst) (Computer generated image)
Right: Buckinghamshire
£775,000 guide, (Woking)
houses built by the same developer. So if your first step should be checking that a developer is one you can trust, the question which naturally follows is: how do you verify?
Verification is the stuff of guarantees and standards. You should ask which apply to any new house you are considering. All mortgageable new homes have a ten year guarantee from the NHBC, LABC etc. Since 2010, many developers have also signed up to
the Consumer Code for Home Builders. In the mainstream market, this has raised quality and service standards considerably. Every year, the Home Builders Federation asks new home buyers, if they would recommend their builder to a friend. Following the introduction of the Code, the ‘Yes’ rate climbed persistently, reaching 90% in 2020. Last year, that number jumped again to 94%. Much of this was attributed to the impact of a new standard,
Top: Cheshire
£2,850,000 guide, (Alderley Edge)
Below: Somerset
£1,650,000 guide, (Taunton)
Below: Suffolk £445,000 guide, (Ipswich) (Computer generated image)
the New Homes Quality Code (NHQC), widely adopted from October 2022. Wendy Owen of our Lancashire office in Ormskirk, was with a large housebuilder at the time. “It turned our world upside down for while” she says, “but I am a fan. It was long overdue.” In essence, Wendy says, the NHQC imposes good systems and ways of working, that the best developers practise anyway. As a result, they are the ones who have proved most reluctant to sign up to the NHQC and its extra costs. “So NHQC is not the most important thing” says Wendy, “but the further down the price scale and into the mainstream you are looking, the more important it gets”. Finally, our New Homes colleagues recommend checking out opportunities for ‘the fun stuff’. One of the many attractions of opting for new build, especially at the higher end and where the house has not yet been started, is being able to choose your preferred styles and colours of aspects such as flooring, wallcoverings, kitchens and bathrooms. One thing, they say, that makes walking into a beautiful, all-functioning brand new house, built for you, even better, is when it has been tailored according to your wishes.
LOCK IN OPTIONS AND FLEXIBILITY
While those with variable rate mortgages celebrate, for others, the shine of August’s welcome base rate cut has been tarnished a little by the slightest of increases (0.1 – 0.2%) in new fixed rate loans. This has happened because lenders offset the risk that future base rates might not fall as quickly or as far as previously expected (or could even rise), cutting the profitability of money lent at fixed rates. Thus, even when the markets expect rates to carry on falling, if expectations change, so will the cost of hedging. Since the base rate cut, Monetary Policy Committee member Catherine Mann has argued for a “persistent hold” given inflation persistence and still-elevated wage growth, while stressing she could support faster cuts if growth weakens. Given this and other UK and US news since, markets are now factoring in a more gradual, shallower fall – hence a slight increase in hedging costs and the knock-on effect on fixed rate products.
IMPLICATIONS FOR BORROWERS
• If your deal ends within six to nine months, secure a replacement now. Most lenders allow you to lock in a rate and switch later if a better option appears.
• Keep flexibility in mind. A three-year fix or a tracker with no early repayment charges can be a sensible bridge if you value options.
• Focus on total cost, not just the headline rate. Fees, incentives and portability matter, particularly if you may move or refinance again.
• Don’t anchor to the base rate. Fixed deals follow swaps and gilts, which can move differently from the base rate in the short term.
Of course, market expectations remain that rates will continue to fall, especially if economic news about GDP and employment, disappoints. As reported in the previous bulletin, any debate is only about timing and extent.
For independent mortgage advice, contact Private Finance on 0800 980 8777 or at jacksonstops@privatefinance.co.uk. www.privatefinance.co.uk
Taking the long view
Our figures suggest that owners keen to move have decided to press on, not await Budget tax changes unlikely to affect their reasons for wanting to move home. This seems pragmatic: they are avoiding delay knowing that, with a buyer and a price, the impact of any tax variation can be crystallised and addressed. As to the nature of such changes, it must be hoped they are driven by the need for a thriving market, not revenue.
THE BIG PICTURE
Above: West Sussex £1,495,000 guide, (Chichester)
When the budget does come, it appears likely that any property tax changes made will seek to advantage owneroccupiers, especially first time buyers at lower prices, at the expense of those buying for investment or a second home, and of those with more expensive homes. Potentially unsettling news for owners and buyers of country houses at, say, three or more times the current national average price (around
£323,000 in England & Wales) there is an argument that such changes are in their long-term interests. Why? Because they should give young buyers of today a greater chance, in eight to ten years’ time, of having the equity, earnings and desire, to buy a classic family country house. A healthy first time buyer market is the foundation of future demand and the extent to which it can be underpinned by parental wealth, is too narrow for long-term viability.
Top: Somerset
£1,275,000 guide, (Taunton)
Right: Bedfordshire
£4,000,000 guide, (Woburn)
In 1995, home ownership was common (43%) amongst 27 year olds. Among those aged 25 to 34, it stood at 65%. This collapsed to just 27% by 2015 and is at 31% today*. Many – probably most – of those who rented have been unable to save for a deposit, keeping them out of the market and restricting demand. Combined with slow wage growth, this limited house price growth at the bottom end of the market from 1996 to 2003, even as the availability of cheap credit, for those with access to it, prompted a big increase in investment in low-end properties to rent and sharp rises in the value of more up-market properties. In addition, at the very top end, worldwide macroeconomic events increased the number of exceptionally wealthy people. For example,
if we take (somewhat arbitrarily) six times the national average price as the starting point for ‘exceptional wealth’ properties, Cornwall had no such sales in 1995, but now has 15 to twenty each year. In Cheshire, the number has trebled to nearly 100 a year and Devon has gone from 15, to around 50. In rural areas, this growth in the number of houses at the top end of the national price scale has contributed towards the long-term spreading of market values, with relatively low price growth of the least expensive homes and the highest growth, until constrained by taxes and interest rates, seen in these top end houses. Such properties are, as indicated above, small in number, yet still help to drag average prices well above the mid-point, below which half of all sales take place.
Above: Suffolk
£1,650,000 guide, (Bury St Edmunds)
Left: Dorset
£1,150,000 guide, (Bridport & Dorchester)
* Sources: Resolution Foundation ONS
Right: Kent
£2,200,000 guide, (Kent & East Sussex)
Thus even, say, a couple who did buy a modest home a decade ago, today face a much bigger jump to a large family home than they might have anticipated, even with recent wage rises and growth in bottom-end
prices. If the Treasury opts to help such a couple to realise their hopes by, say, giving them a tax advantage over non owneroccupiers, that should, in the long-term, be to the advantage of all.
GROWTH AT THE TOP (EXCL. LONDON)
Since 1995 (the start of available Land Registry records), the cost of buying one of the most expensive 1% of homes in England & Wales has increased at a significantly faster rate than properties at lower price levels, falling back only since the peak in 2022.
£1,400,000
£1,050,000
£700,000
£350,000
1% of all sales took place above this price
A 1996: Paragon introduce the buy-to-let mortgage, based on rental income, not borrower income. Over the next twenty years, the number of such mortgages grows to a peak of nearly 350,000 loans in 2007, powering a doubling of the private rental sector to a peak of 20% of all homes in 2017, since when it has declined modestly.
B 2000: Deregulation, competition and lowering base rates fuelled financial innovations which made it easier to borrow. These included self-certification mortgages which grew to 6% of the entire market by 2007.
C 2008: The great financial crash. Credit terms tighten dramatically, while interest rates drop and quantitative easing increases the flow of credit to those businesses and individuals still deemed creditworthy.
D SDLT and other taxes increased for investment buyers, other non owner-occupiers and at higher price levels.
E Pandemic prompts lower interest rates, further quantitative easing, SDLT holiday and the ‘flight to the country’.
F The Liz Truss mini budget.
Between March 2008 and March 2009, the BoE base rate fell from 5.25% to below 1%. It stayed at or below 1% until June 2022, rising to 3.5% that November and to 5.25% in August 2023. Since then it has fallen and was cut to 4% in August 2025.
Source: Jackson-Stops / Land Registry Price Paid Data
1% of all transactions took place above this price.
10% of all transactions took place above this price.
50% of all transactions took place below this price.
10% of all transactions took place below this price.
AL Kennedy is a writer and broadcaster who for some years also had a regular standup comedy act.
Her many distinctions include the Lannan Award, the Costa Prize, The Heinrich Heine Preis, the Somerset Maugham Award, the John Llewellyn Rees Prize and the 2020 Austrian Booksellers’ Award for Tolerance in Thought and Action.
Her 10th novel, "Alive in the Merciful Country", was published earlier this year.
PROPERTY EXPERTS SINCE 1910
HOME
OTHER MINDS, OTHER HEARTS
By AL Kennedy
The writer’s life is surprisingly peripatetic, and over time my sense of home has become fragmented. I now feel instantly at home when I arrive in a familiar rental apartment in Zurich and have reached an amicable truce with its washing machine. I’m immediately at ease in the small Munich apartment hotel where I once filled the entire reception area with asparagus soup steam from my kitchenette. I feel equally settled in the backwoods cabin I borrow in New York.
I can relax and feel heimish in the Wannsee mansion that houses the German Literary Colloquium and its ever-changing array of international scribblers, myself among them. After a long reading tour, I can find my own living room surprising – and dusty.
For a good many years, a large, almost indestructible Briggs & Riley bag I bought in Toronto and a pair of leather slippers from Cairo were points of homelike solidity in a whirl of motion.
house with its river views, spring nightingales and easy kayaking close at hand. Open water is a theme running, sometimes literally, through all those homes. Walking beside the Kelvin, Thames, Colne, Isar, heading off to a lake, or the coast – water is always soul-soothing, always different and always a homecoming.
That’s not to say I haven’t warmed to the various properties on which I’ve paid a mortgage. I loved my tiny Glasgow flat and its surrounding friends and leafy lanes, my London duplex with the dodgy roof and lovely neighbours, my Essex
Country Houses 020 7664 6646
London
Mayfair 020 7664 6644
Pimlico 020 7828 4050
Teddington 020 8943 9777
Weybridge 01932 821160
Wimbledon 020 8879 0099
West Country
Barnstaple 01271 325153
Blandford Forum 01258 423002
Bridport/Dorchester 01308 423133
Exeter 01392 214222
Shaftesbury 01747 850858
Sherborne 01935 810141
Taunton 01823 325144
Cornwall 01872 261160
Cotswolds, Midlands & Oxfordshire
Cheltenham 01242 783333
Chipping Campden 01386 840224
Central
Northampton 01604 632991
Oundle 01832 617 617
Woburn 01525 290641
North East
Yorkshire 01904 625033
North West & North Wales
Alderley Edge 01625 540340
Lancashire 01704 651029
Chester 01244 328361
Hale 0161 9288 881
East Anglia
Writers often work from home and therefore live in their offices. Over the years, every bump in income has let me distance my living areas further from my typing area, with its fast-breeding books, document heaps, and ominous atmosphere of deadlines past. My current Highland home offers something approaching my perfect study: far-reaching views, many bookshelves, and set all the way up the stairs from everything else. Writers may, of course, haunt understanding cafes to write, or have convenient sheds. I find cafes distracting and my shed is where I keep my wheelbarrow and my spiders – and my mice. Yes, when I think of my view towards the coastal skies over Scots pines, the river with the osprey who comes to call, sunsets and the Northern Lights and peace in a little room lined with the words of other minds and other hearts –that’s home.
Burnham Market 01328 801333
Bury St Edmunds 01284 700535
Chelmsford 01245 806101
Colchester 01206 982272
Ipswich 01473 218218
Newmarket 01638 662231
Norwich 01603 612333
South East
Chichester 01243 786316
Arundel 01903 885886
Emsworth 01243 370300
Dorking 01306 887560
Kent & East Sussex 01580 720000
Canterbury 01227 781600
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Stockbridge 01264 586 926
Weybridge 01932 821160
Woking 01483 322135
Auctions
J-S Auctions is an online service providing full market coverage and the timing and certainty that sale by auction can bring. Find out more at www.jackson-stops.co.uk/auctions
Photo by Donna-Lisa Healy