London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 03, 2025

London Home Sales Surged Last Week

London Home Sales Surged Last Week

Pent-up demand is delivering “hard and fast results” across the U.K. and in the capital, according to Knight Frank

London’s housing market continued to pick up steam last week, with sales soaring to double the five-year average, new research showed.

The British capital and much of the U.K. have seen a surge in demand, with the number of offers buyers made on homes hitting record highs in recent months, according to real estate firm Knight Frank, which published the research on Friday.

The boom in activity reflects buyers taking advantage of short-term tax breaks that have eliminated stamp duty on the price of a home up to £500,000 (US$660,800) until April.

That window of savings also coincides with a mass shift in people’s housing needs, as people must accommodate working and, potentially, schooling their kids remotely, reflecting similar market forces driving activity in other parts of the world, notably the U.S.

Nationwide, sales in the week ending Aug. 29 were the highest since the end of 2019—when the outcome of the December general election unleashed a surge of pent-up housing demand.

U.K. sales were 69% above the five-year average in the week ending Aug. 29—the 15th busiest week on record, according to Knight Frank, which has been keeping track for 20 years.

Meanwhile, sales outside of the capital were 60% above the five-year average, and marked the biggest total in nearly two years.

A spike in demand amid a housing shortage has created a highly competitive environment in some cases. Bidding wars are driving up prices and causing buyers to pay above asking price, said Edward Rook, head of Knight Frank’s country department.

And for now, there’s little to suggest “the high levels of demand we’ve been experiencing since the market reopened abating,” Mr. Rook said. Mortgage approvals, a leading indicator of future home sales, jumped 66% in July compared to June, the Bank of England said this week.

Demand for three-bedroom homes is particularly hot, especially in London, where residents are seeking slightly more space as they work from home, Knight Frank had found in previous research.

London was slower to see a post-Covid rebound in activity, but the latest sales data showed the capital’s recovery has now surpassed the rest of the country. The number of offers London sellers accepted in August was the highest on record.

There are also signs that home prices in the capital, which have experienced years of deflation in the wake of tax changes and Brexit, could show more strength as a result of the boost in activity.

Most London sellers have been able to strike deals within 10% of their asking price if not closer, said James Clarke, head of London sales at Knight Frank.

“Pent-up demand is now delivering hard and fast results,” he said.


 


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×