Property Watch – February 2023 UK residential property transactions
The graph below shows the UK housing market transactions for the year to 28 February 2023 with comparatives for the same period to February 2022, as reported by HMRC through Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) reporting.
Monthly residential property transactions from March 2021 to February 2023
The graph above shows:
- The February 2023 residential property transactions amounted to 76,920 transactions which were 18.2% down from February 2022 and 1.8 % up from January 2023.
- Not shown in the above graph, but the February 2023 transactions were lower than the February 2020 (pre-COVID) transactions by 5,910 transactions (7.1% lower).
- The February 2023 transaction figures are the 2nd lowest since June 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The Bank of England base rate remained at 4% throughout February 2023 (0.25% rising to 0.5% in February 2022).
- The transactions split by location in February 2023 were as follows:
| No. | % | |
|---|---|---|
| England | 65,850 | 85.6% |
| Scotland | 6,000 | 7.8% |
| Wales | 3,330 | 4.3% |
| Northern Ireland | 1,740 | 2.3% |
| 76,920 | 100.0% |
Key points to note:
- The transaction spikes in March 2021 and June 2021 were a result of the expected and extended end to the £500k SDLT holiday enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The September 2021 transaction spike was a result of the end of the £250k SDLT holiday enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The January 2023 transactions in the above graph are 1,850 lower than those reported in our January 2023 issue of this circular (which can be viewed here: Property Watch January) this is a result of more data being collected throughout the last month to support the transaction data reported.
UK residential property transaction prices to January 2023
The latest residential price data, as provided by HM Land Registry to January 2023 (so a month out of sync with the transaction data above) shows that prices were 6.3% up at an average price of £289,818 compared to January 2022’s average of £272,739.
Residential property prices are 25.0% up from January 2020 (pre-COVID) where the average was £231,940 per the Land Registry data.
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 January 2023.
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 businesses.
If you would like to find out how we can help please contact Martin Adams 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: ballardsllp.com/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.
