The RICS housing survey for September 2026 shows a renewed weakening in buyer demand and agreed sales, alongside stronger tenant demand across the private rental market.
New buyer enquiries slipped to a net balance of minus 22%, while the headline house price balance moved from minus 28% to minus 32%. More surveyors also expect rents to rise than fall over the next three months.
I’d be careful with that minus 32% figure: it does not mean house prices have fallen by 32%. RICS balances measure the proportion of surveyors reporting increases minus the proportion reporting decreases.
RICS housing survey records weaker sales activity
In the RICS housing survey, the new buyer enquiries reading deteriorated to minus 22%, compared with minus 18% in August. Agreed sales moved to minus 18% from minus 16% and near-term expectations softened to minus 6%.
Rental demand diverges from the sales market
In the RICS housing survey, tenant demand reached a plus 23% net balance, while landlord instructions remained negative. The net balance of respondents expecting rents to increase over the next three months was plus 37%.
Regional differences remain
The RICS housing survey’s national headline measures cover England and Wales, with Scotland and Northern Ireland reported separately. London’s price sentiment is considerably weaker, while Scotland and Northern Ireland show positive price balances.
What a RICS net balance means
The balances show the proportion of surveyors reporting increases minus the proportion reporting decreases. A minus 32% reading does not mean a fall of 32% in house prices.
The RICS housing survey uses these balances to measure the breadth of a change, not its magnitude. Its September report includes 193 survey responses covering 422 branches. The indicator is useful for identifying changes in direction, but it should not replace actual sales evidence, a local valuation or scheme-specific feasibility appraisal.
More properties reach the sales market
In the RICS housing survey, new sales instructions reached a plus 6% balance, the first positive reading since mid-2025. This is a modest recovery in the flow of instructions, not evidence of an extraordinary surge in listings. Market appraisals were still below the equivalent level last year. More stock alongside cautious buyers can make selling periods and development cash flow harder to predict, especially where an appraisal assumes that completed homes will sell quickly.
Planning permission and housing delivery remain distinct
A consent is not a construction programme or a guarantee of profitability. Sales rates, finance, infrastructure commitments, labour and the proposed tenure mix all affect whether houses get built. Consultants assessing scheme viability should test local comparables and realistic disposal assumptions. Neither this survey nor a national price index establishes that any site’s affordable housing obligations must be reduced.
Rental pressure does not override local planning rules
Demand for rental homes may strengthen a business case, but conversions and HMOs still require a proper planning assessment. Policies on loss of family accommodation, concentration, neighbours’ amenity and Article 4 Directions can be decisive. Planning Geek has recently covered Liverpool’s proposed HMO controls, showing why demand cannot simply be equated with permission.
Where the four nations differ
The survey headline is based on England and Wales, with Scotland and Northern Ireland counted separately. RICS reported much weaker price sentiment in London, modest price growth in Scotland, and continued increases in Northern Ireland. The UK label should not be read as a single result for every nation.
The report draws on 193 survey responses covering 422 branches. Its net balances show whether increases or decreases are more commonly reported by those responding. They cannot independently establish sales volumes, changes in achievable development values, or any planning policy threshold.
Prices and rental expectations
The headline house price balance worsened from minus 28% in August to minus 32% in September. This ended four months of gradual improvement in price sentiment. RICS research head Tarrant Parsons described renewed interest rate uncertainty as a fresh headwind for the housing market
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Three-month price expectations stood at minus 24%, pointing towards further short-term pressure. Over twelve months, the expectations balance was zero, consistent with broadly flat prices rather than rapid growth.
In the rental sector, landlord instructions continued to fall on balance. Tenant demand remained positive at plus 23%, while a plus 37% balance expected rents to rise in the next three months. That plus 37% is a net balance of respondents, not a prediction of a 37% rent increase.
These survey balances capture professional sentiment rather than actual transaction volumes or the percentage change in prices. Developers should test local sales and rental assumptions against transaction evidence before changing delivery programmes.
What happens next?
The RICS September survey analysis is available from RICS. Planning Geek’s Lloyds price index analysis offers a useful comparison of completed-price measures and sentiment.
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