The housing market is being held back byspeculation over possible property taxes to be announced in next month’s Budget.

That’s the verdict in the Landmark Information Group’s Q3 2025 Residential Property Trends Report. 

While market activity in July and August reflected the usual summer slowdown, the anticipated September rebound failed to materialise, according to the data. Across England and Wales, listing volumes fell by 1% in Q3 2025 compared with the same quarter in 2024 and properties marked as Sold Subject to Contract (SSTC) were down 6% compared across the same timeframe, and were broadly consistent with the levels recorded in previous quarters throughout 2025.

Reflecting lingering caution in the market, the data suggests confidence has yet to recover from the post-election uncertainty that dampened activity last year, with this year’s market behaving in much the same way. Search order and completion volumes remained largely unchanged from the dampened levels experienced in 2024, with the data showing that search order volumes declined by 2% in Q3 2025 compared with Q3 2024, while completions rose by just 1% in the same timeframe.

Despite the market still experiencing lower-than-average transaction volumes overall, there remain persistent process inefficiencies in the transaction pipeline. Earlier in the autumn, Landmark Information Group and many other industry players created Project 28: A Charter for faster, more certain property transactions to tackle this.

The Charter sets out eight cross-industry pledges to cut property transaction times to just 28 days and lays the groundwork for a more resilient market, ready to meet renewed demand with a modernised system built on collaboration, data and technology to deliver faster, more certain outcomes for buyers and sellers.

Simon Brown, CEO, Landmark Information Group, says: “People want to move, but speculation around potential changes to property taxes in the forthcoming Autumn Budget has caused activity to stall, with movers likely to be waiting for clarity before making their decisions.

“This moment should be seen as an opportunity. Housing is a cornerstone of economic growth, yet the process of buying and selling homes remains too slow and uncertain. The Government’s newly announced homebuying reform consultation is a vital and long-overdue step towards change.

“Through the Project 28 Charter, we and our industry partners are committed to proving what’s possible: delivering faster, more certain transactions and cutting transaction times to just 28 days. If we modernise the process, we not only restore confidence to the market, we help unlock growth across the wider economy.”

Key findings from the report

• In England and Wales, listing volumes in Q3 ’25 averaged at 1% lower than Q3 ’24 levels;

• In England and Wales, sold subject to contract (SSTC) volumes in Q3 ‘25 were on average 6% lower than the same period in 2024;

• In England and Wales, search order volumes in Q3 ‘25 were on average the same compared to Q3 ‘24; 

• In England and Wales, completions averaged across Q3 ‘25 were up 1% year-on-year against Q3 ‘24. However, this masks deviations across the quarter, with completions dropping by 5% in July and then 13% in August when compared to the same months in 2024.