Latest Property News | Warwick Estate Agents

Details: Published: 05 February 2026; Hits: 318

The average UK private tenant spent £10,580 on rent in 2025 – equivalent to 41% of their net income.

This marks a significant rise from 2024 when renters spent an average of 36% of their take-home pay on rent.

The personal share of rent paid by each tenant increased by £684 (6.9%), while average net income rose only modestly from £27,710 to £28,810.

The analysis by Canopy looked at some 119,000 individual renters, measuring average take-home salary of employed tenants against their share of rental costs.

Typically, spending 40% of take-home salary is considered the very outer limit of affordability.

Canopy says this indicates that the majority of tenants are currently at the edge of what is considered financially feasible or ‘comfortable’.

Affordability worsens regionally across the UK

Several regions now exceed the 40% affordability benchmark.

London is the least affordable region at 48%, despite having the highest average income at £37,600.

Following close behind is the South East, with a 44% rent-to-income ratio.

The North East offers the most affordable rent, with an average rent-to-income ratio being a third of their take home salary (34%).

Yorkshire and The Humber is just above at 35%.

Full regional breakdown

London: 48%
South East: 44%
East of England: 42%
South West: 41%
East Midlands: 38%
West Midlands: 38%
North West: 37%
Scotland: 37%
Wales: 37%
Yorkshire and The Humber: 35%

Least vs most affordable cities to rent

The South of England continues to dominate the list of least affordable cities, but affordability pressures are now spreading northwards. Edinburgh and Manchester have now entered the top 10 least affordable cities.

Outside London, Brighton has overtaken Bournemouth as the least affordable city, with renters spending 47% of their income on rent.

In contrast, northern cities continue to offer the most manageable rent-to-income ratios. Durham, Doncaster and Hull top the list as the most affordable places to rent, with tenants spending just 32% of their income on rent.

Young adults hit hardest

According to the data, renters aged 18-25 are spending 50% of their take-home pay on rent, leaving little room for other essential costs and making saving for a house deposit increasingly difficult.

On the other hand, rent-to-income ratios improve for those aged 26-45, but still sit at 40%, pushing the limits of affordability.

Details: Published: 02 February 2026; Hits: 268

UK house prices are expected to rise by 3% in 2026, despite recent increases in borrowing costs and economic uncertainty, according to Knight Frank. While stronger-than-expected UK data has pushed mortgage rates higher in recent weeks, the prospect of lower rates later in the year is one factor supporting price growth.

Markets had been expecting two Bank Rate cuts this year, though the likelihood of these reductions has fallen, with the five-year swap rate – a benchmark for fixed-rate mortgages – rising from 3.55% to 3.75%. This change suggests fewer lenders will be cutting rates in the near term, even as overall house prices are forecast to continue their upward trend.

“A lot of company earnings have been talking about the uncertain environment and headwinds they’re facing,” said Pepperstone research analyst Michael Brown. “So, I’m not saying I distrust the PMI, but I don’t think we should overreact to one report that doesn’t sing from the hymn sheet that all of the other reports do. We need to look at the data through February in terms of how the labour market is evolving.”

In other words, if more economic cracks start to show, expect markets to start betting more heavily on a second rate cut this year. And prepare for more optimistic news on mortgages.

One area of weakness that could increase the chances of a second cut this year is the jobs market.

“The recent jobs numbers pointed to a fourth straight monthly decline in employment,” said Brown. “It was the biggest month-on-month fall in employment since November of 2020 when we were going into a lockdown.”

Before the recent jump in borrowing costs, the housing market had responded positively to the certainty that followed November’s Budget. The number of transactions in December was in line with the five-year average, HMRC said on Friday.

However, mortgage approvals were down 9% in the same month, suggesting a pre-Christmas rush to complete rather than the start of a more meaningful upturn in demand.

“Two other factors have put upwards pressure on borrowing costs in recent weeks, said Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank.

“First, the prospect of a debt-funded spending spree by the Japanese government, which has pushed global bond yields higher in recent weeks,” he explained. “Second, there is a similar concern closer to home. The possibility that Prime minister Keir Starmer could be challenged unnerved bond markets last month when Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham announced he would stand in this month’s Gorton and Denton by-election.”

Details: Published: 26 January 2026; Hits: 401

HMRC has confirmed that filing Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) returns will fall within the scope of the new tax adviser registration rules, which is expected to increase the compliance burden on conveyancing teams already operating under pressure. The changes are due to take effect from May 2026.

In response, specialist SDLT advisers SCA Tax has launched Post Complete, a workflow-led SDLT calculation and review service aimed at helping firms handle complex SDLT positions while maintaining efficiency. Every transaction is reviewed by tax-qualified specialists, and firms receive clear, audit-ready documentation for client files, including a PDF Tax Calculation Certificate and supporting assessment breakdown. Each calculation is also supported by professional indemnity insurance underwritten by Allianz.

The launch follows HMRC’s confirmation that SDLT filings are treated as tax advice under the proposed tax adviser registration regime outlined in the Finance Bill 2025–26. Further guidance is expected later this month, but the direction is clear: increased accountability, tighter standards, and greater financial risk for firms where SDLT submissions are inaccurate or poorly documented.

Post Complete provides a structured process for all SDLT scenarios without slowing completions. Firms create an account, add a client record, and submit the transaction for review. SCA Tax’s team then gathers the necessary information to complete the assessment, including cases involving reliefs, exemptions, mixed-use claims, multiple dwellings, or surcharges, ensuring compliance with HMRC’s Standards for Agents and Agent Conduct requirements.

Matthew Gannon, who joined SCA Tax from PwC last year to lead the Post Complete team, said: “We know these changes are coming, and there’s no benefit in waiting for the final guidance before firms start putting stronger processes in place. SDLT already creates pressure points in transactions – the last thing the market needs is completions being delayed because teams are forced to rebuild their approach overnight.

“Post Complete is designed to help property professionals stay ahead of the change, keep transactions moving, and make sure SDLT positions are properly assessed and documented.

“We launched earlier this month, and we’re already speaking to conveyancing firms and the wider property chain – including estate agents, auction houses, mortgage brokers and financial advisers – because this affects everyone involved in getting deals over the line.

“If we want the market to move, we need processes that reduce delays, not add to them.”

Details: Published: 19 January 2026; Hits: 415

The average price of homes newly listed on the market for sale has increased by 2.8% in just one month.

Rightmove reports a rise equivalent to £9,893 on the average British homes.

This is the largest increase in the month of January in Rightmove’s 25 years of House Price Index reporting.

It is also the largest month-on-month price increase of any month since June 2015.

After underperforming against historical averages in eight out of twelve months during 2025, national average property prices are now 0.5% higher than at this time last year.

January’s recovery brings average asking prices close to where they were in August 2025, as market sentiment rebounds from the rumours and uncertainty around the November Budget.

However, price trends in regions and local markets across Britain are more volatile.

While most regions rise in price this January, the East Midlands and Scotland buck the trend with price falls.

The portal says a recovery in property prices is a good sign for the health of the market at the start of the year, it warns that sellers mustn’t get carried away.

The number of available homes on the market, and therefore the number of other sellers to compete with, is still at its highest level for this time of year since 2014.

Additionally, a third of homes already on the market are having their asking price reduced.

Therefore, sellers need to strike a balance between price ambition and market realism when setting their asking price to give themselves the best chance of finding a buyer and getting their home sold.

Rightmove says in the two weeks after Christmas Day, buyer demand, as measured by the number of people contacting agents to enquire about homes for sale, rose by 57%.

And the number of homes newly listed for sale rose by 81% compared with the two weeks before Christmas Day.

This illustrates how the much-hyped Boxing Day bounce kick-started the return of home-movers to market.

Rightmove recorded its busiest ever Boxing Day for visits to its platform.

And over the last week, buyer demand is lower than last year, when buyer activity was boosted by some buyers trying to find a property and complete their purchase before stamp duty rose in England in April 2025.

However, buyer demand is in line with 2024.

The portal says it’s an encouraging early snapshot, and as the start of the year progresses it will become clearer if this momentum is maintained into the peak Spring selling season.