Britain’s stagnant housing market: What can sellers do in a buyer’s market?

Buyers are returning to the UK housing market, but with a glut of stock available sellers will need to do all they can to shift their homes.

In its latest house price index, property portal Zoopla said searches on its website in July 2026 were 7% higher than July last year.

However, supply is outstripping demand. Zoopla said there were 5% more homes for sale on its portal in July 2026 compared to the same month in 2025.

Separately, property website Rightmove said the supply of homes on the market in July 2026 was close to a 12-year high.

Some estate agents believe we’re now firmly in a “buyer’s market” – defined as a period of high supply versus lower demand.

Why are we in a buyer’s market?

Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at estate agent Knight Frank, believes “uncertainty” is one of the biggest reasons we’re in a buyer’s market.

He said fluctuating mortgage rates caused by the Iran conflict, speculation in the run up to last year’s Autumn Budget and fears over what could be announced in the upcoming Budget have dented demand and caused transactions to slow.

According to HMRC, there were 96,710 UK residential transactions in July 2026, 1% lower than July 2025 and 2% lower than June 2026.

“Things have been a bit stop-start over the last 12 months…and it’s causing buyers to hesitate and to think twice,” Bill said.

“There’s less speculation around this year than there was last year, but people are expecting more taxes on wealth and assets to come in the [2026] Budget because the government has a fairly limited room for manoeuvre.”

Meanwhile, a glut of flats are being put on the market.

Polly Ogden Duffy, managing director of estate agents John D Wood, said some of these flats were being sold by landlords leaving the buy-to-let market, in part, due to the Renters’ Rights Act coming into effect in May 2026 and an increasing tax burden.

Some 93,000 landlords exited the buy-to-let sector in 2025, with another 110,000 forecast to leave in 2026, according to research firm Kalkine.

“There are so many reasons today for landlords to not enter the buy-to-let market than perhaps five years ago,” Ogden Duffy said.

She also said homebuyers keen to swerve paying stamp duty twice may be sidestepping smaller apartments, which could be increasing the supply of flats in the market.

“[Buyers are] trying to avoid buying a one-bedroom flat and perhaps buying a bigger flat or a small house as their first purchase.”

High service charges and stagnant flat price growth in recent years were giving buyers extra reasons not to buy flats, Ogden Duffy said.

What could Andy Burnham do to help sellers?

Prime minister Andy Burnham ruled out scrapping stamp duty back in July, but experts say this would be one the best ways to incentivise homebuyers and increase demand.

David Hollingworth, associate director at the broker L&C Mortgages, said: “Although we are in a more stable period [with mortgage rates]…stamp duty is a big cost that people will see as money to nothing, and it’s just another barrier to whether they should move.”

Scrapping stamp duty could help to unlock some of the £5.5 trillion worth of UK housing wealth and galvanise the market, according to wealth manager Rathbones.

Their research suggests ditching the tax would lead to a further 300,000 housing transactions per year.

Ogden Duffy said even if the government didn’t want to scrap stamp duty completely, increasing the thresholds at which it is paid would stimulate the market somewhat.

Others have called for further solutions. Last month, Jason Honeyman, chief executive of property developer Bellway, said the government should introduce a deposit support scheme for first-time buyers to stimulate demand.

What can homeowners do to sell their homes?

Pricing your property accurately is one of the most important things you can do as a seller in the current market, Ogden Duffy said.

“If you are not pricing your property below your competition, you have to accept that you may not sell,” she added.

Recent research by Zoopla found 44% of UK homeowners listing properties for sale in the past three years didn’t sell them, with 34% of this group admitting they had priced their home too high.

Ogden Duffy said if you can’t afford to take the financial hit of a lower asking price, you could rent your property out – with so many landlords leaving the market, rents are being driven up, which offers an opportunity.

Average UK monthly private rent increased by 3.7% to £1,393 in the 12 months to July 2026, according to the ONS.

What if you don’t want to be a landlord or drop your asking price?

If you don’t want to drastically reduce your asking price and aren’t keen on renting the property out, there are other steps you can take to boost your home’s chance of selling.

Ogden Duffy said: “First impressions count, so in this day and age I wouldn’t be using an estate agent unless they had a professional photographer…a really good photographer is going to present your property in the best possible light, and [they] aren’t just taking photos.

“They can advise you to clear surfaces, help you reposition furniture [and] suggest times of day that would be better for light.”

Ogden Duffy also said listing your property on as many property portals as possible will increase your exposure, as will putting up a for sale board outside your home.

She recommended removing any “wildly eccentric” details from your home and trying to avoid being a seller in a chain of more than three people, which will increase the likelihood of delays that could lead to the chain collapsing.

Hollingworth said speaking to multiple estate agents for valuations can be useful when deciding what price to list your home at. For example, you could take all the valuations and work out what the average is.

He also said speaking to multiple agents can allow you to choose the one between all of them that is most enthusiastic about selling your home and will push for the best possible price.