UK Property Transactions Fall 4% in September 2026

United Kingdom (UK) property transactions fell in September 2026. The report on UK property transactions records 94,800 residential completions on a seasonally adjusted basis, 4% fewer than a year earlier, according to figures released by HM Revenue & Customs on Friday, 30th October.

September’s residential total was also slightly below August’s revised 95,300, a monthly reduction of around 500 transactions. The latest UK property transactions figures suggest a quieter market for completed sales, although the overall picture is more complicated than a single month’s decline.

The figures cover United Kingdom (UK) property transactions valued at £40,000 or more and are provisional. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) warns that completed sales typically reflect offers agreed two to four months earlier, rather than buying activity taking place today. I would therefore read this as a measure of the market earlier in the summer, not a live verdict on today’s demand.

UK property transactions: what changed in September?

Unadjusted residential sales numbered 97,940 in September. That is 5% below September 2025 but 1% above August 2026. The difference between the monthly adjusted and unadjusted figures reflects normal seasonal patterns in the housing market.

Non-residential UK property transactions were more stable. HMRC recorded an estimated 10,160 seasonally adjusted transactions, fractionally below both September 2025 and August 2026. Without seasonal adjustment, the figure was 10,500, 16% above August but marginally below the equivalent month last year.

Importantly, non-residential does not mean shops and offices alone. HMRC’s definition also includes agricultural land, forestry, mixed-use property and transactions involving six or more homes purchased together. The numbers therefore cannot be treated as a stand-alone measure of commercial investment.

The September figures in context

Comparing September against recent years helps show the change in sales volumes without confusing a one-month movement with a long-term collapse. HMRC’s published series provides the following seasonally adjusted comparisons.

Source: HMRC monthly property transactions statistics, published 30 October 2026. The table uses seasonally adjusted estimates for September in each year.

More homes sold across the first six months of the financial year

Despite September’s year-on-year fall, residential UK property transactions across April to September 2026 totalled 583,260 after seasonal adjustment. That compares with 536,520 in April to September 2025, an increase of approximately 8.7%.

That is an important qualification. A softer September does not establish a year-long retreat. The UK property transactions data still show stronger residential activity over the first half of the financial year than in the equivalent period of 2025.

In the non-residential market, the financial-year-to-date seasonally adjusted total was 61,490, compared with 61,820 the year before. This represents a much flatter picture, with a modest decline of roughly half a per cent.

Mortgage approvals offer a different view of the market

There is another useful indicator to set alongside these completed sales. The Bank of England reported that approvals for mortgages to purchase homes fell to 53,400 in September, while remortgage approvals rose to 42,600. We covered those numbers in our report on September mortgage approvals.

It is tempting to put those figures alongside the 94,800 completed residential transactions and see a contradiction. But they measure different things. Mortgage approvals concern lending decisions, while HMRC counts property completions, including transactions not necessarily funded through a new mortgage.

There is a time lag too. HMRC specifically cautions that its transactions statistics generally correspond to property offers made two to four months earlier. September’s property completions therefore do not directly measure buyer confidence following the October Budget.

What does the slowdown mean for housing and development?

For developers, surveyors and planning professionals, completed transactions are one signal of market liquidity. Lower sales volumes can affect the pace at which housebuilders release sites, the assumptions behind development appraisals and decisions about when to bring new homes to market.

But the HMRC statistics alone do not prove that housing development is slowing, that prices are declining or that planning permissions are becoming less viable. Those questions need separate evidence, including asking prices, achieved prices, mortgage borrowing, new-build reservations and planning or construction activity. Our guide to five-year housing land supply explains a different planning measure concerning deliverable housing sites, rather than property sales.

It is also worth recognising the effect of changes to property taxes. HMRC points to the March 2025 surge and April 2025 fall in transactions associated with changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax thresholds, demonstrating how policy deadlines can distort month-to-month comparisons.

My reading is that the September report describes a softer market for completed residential sales than a year ago, against a stronger first half-year overall. Non-residential activity is relatively stable. That is more informative than treating a 4% annual decline as evidence of a wholesale market slump.

The full HMRC monthly property transactions commentary contains charts showing both adjusted and unadjusted UK property transactions since 2023 and historic data stretching back to 2005. These are particularly useful for understanding the effect of tax changes and the pandemic on sales activity.

The next HMRC update, covering October transactions, is scheduled for 27 November 2026. Figures may be revised as further tax returns are processed, with estimates generally settling after about three months.