UK housing market stumbles ahead of Budget - Rics
By Abigail Townsend
Date: Thursday 13 Nov 2025
(Sharecast News) - The UK housing market faltered in October, a closely-watched survey suggested on Thursday, as uncertainty ahead of the autumn Budget continued to climb.
According to the latest residential market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, buyer demand, sales activity and new instructions all fell last month.
House prices also softened, with the net balance dipping two points to -19.
A balance is the proportion of respondents reporting a rise minus those seeing a fall.
The new buyer balance eased three points to -24, the weakest reading since April, while the volume of sales fell to -24 from -17.
New buyer instructions, which had been in positive territory for much of the last year, came in at -20.
Tarrant Parsons, head of market research and analysis at Rics, said: "Ongoing uncertainty surround potential measures in the upcoming Budget are thought to be compounding the cautious mood among both buyers and sellers, while above-target inflation and rising unemployment are also a negative for the market."
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is due to present her Budget on 26 November. She is widely expected to put up taxes, despite sluggish economic growth, as she battles soaring government spending and mounting levels of debt.
Parsons added: "The coming months will be crucial in assessing how the market responds to the Budget, which would prove a turning point in either direction.
"Greater clarity over housing taxation policy may help stabilise sentiment, but if the measures announced add further pressure to activity, they risk deepening th current slowdown."
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The uncertainty around the Budget is weighing heavily on the housing market, with a drop in new buyer enquiries [and] pricing pressure also building. London, the south east and East Anglia are looking particularly exposed."
Looking ahead, respondents to the Rics survey expect house prices to continue softening in the next three months.
But they were more optimistic long-term, with a 12-month expectations balance of 16.
The Rics data was based on 245 responses to questionnaires sent to 476 branches.
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