Property Watch – August 2024 UK residential property transactions
The graph below shows the UK housing market transactions for the year to 31 August 2024 with comparatives for the same period to August 2023, as reported by HMRC through Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) and Scottish/Welsh equivalent reporting.
Monthly residential property transactions from September 2022 to August 2024
* June 2024 to August 2024 figures are provisional due to delays in collecting all relevant SDLT/LTT/LBTT reporting.
The graph above shows:
- The August 2024 residential property transactions amounted to 104,330 transactions which were 10.3% up from August 2023 and 7.6% up from July 2024.
- Not shown in the above graph, but the August 2024 transactions were lower than the August 2022 transactions by 8,630 transactions (7.6% lower) and higher than the August 2021 transactions by 10 transactions (0.0% higher). Please note that we have changed our historic comparative period at this section in this edition of this publication.
- The Bank of England base rate decreased from 5.25% to 5.00% in August 2024 (increased from 5.00% to 5.25% in August 2023).
The transactions split by location in August 2024 were as follows:
| No. | % | |
| England | 87,430 | 83.8% |
| Scotland | 9,860 | 9.5% |
| Wales | 4,520 | 4.3% |
| Northern Ireland | 2,520 | 2.4% |
| 104,330 | 100.0% |
Key points to note:
- The July 2024 transactions in the above graph are 140 higher than those reported in our July 2024 issue of this circular (which can be viewed here: Property Watch July) this is as a result of more data being collected throughout the last month to support the transaction data reported.
- With the announcement of the first Labour government budget, which has anticipated capital gains tax rate increases, we anticipate that transaction levels will increase through September and October as transactions are advanced to avoid increased future tax liabilities. The recent transaction increases are therefore potentially slightly skewed by the current political environment.
UK residential property transaction prices to July 2024
The latest residential price data, as provided by HM Land Registry to July 2024 (so a month out of sync with the transaction data above) shows that prices were 2.2% up at an average price of £289,723 compared to July 2023’s average of £283,532.
Residential property prices are 15.3% up from July 2021 (during COVID) where the average was £251,186 per the Land Registry data.
Property prices in July 2024 continued to experience a slight increase (0.58% increase) compared to the previous month June’s average price of £288,043.
The graphs below show the change in average residential property transaction values over the past four years and the monthly change in the year to July 2024.
Please note that the above data and trends may not be consistent with published data from other data collectors such as property sites (Rightmove etc.) or the banks and the data is liable to change as the Land Registry receives additional market information.
Ballards LLP’s property team has extensive experience acting for property related businesses and can assist investors, developers and associated trades with all financial property matters including; tax efficient structuring, SDLT planning, Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings planning and reporting, and any other financial matters associated with property ownership. We act for all sizes of business.
If you would like to find out how we can help please contact Martin Adams, Tax Partner, at martin.adams@ballardsllp.com or on 01905 794 504.
To view past editions of this circular and other topical tax and business insights please visit Ballards Insights
Chi Duong, a Tax Associate at Ballards LLP, assisted in the preparation of this article.
Contains HM Revenue & Customs © Crown copyright data.
Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2020. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Disclaimer. This article has been prepared for information purposes only. Formal professional advice is strongly recommended before making decisions on the topics discussed in this release. No responsibility for any loss to any person acting, or not acting, as a result of this release can be accepted by us, or any person affiliated with us.
