PwC comments on the latest ONS house price data - July 2026

Commenting on the latest ONS private rent and house price data, Paige Tao, Economist at PwC UK, says:

“UK house prices edged up 0.3% between April and May, but the real story is the weakness in activity behind the headline. HMRC data shows residential transactions slipped 2% month-on-month in May, while Bank of England (BoE) figures show mortgage approvals fell to their lowest level since December 2023. Prices may look broadly stable, but in a thin market that stability can be misleading. Sellers who do not need to move are holding off, buyers are delaying and the true clearing price is becoming harder to read.

“Buyer confidence has been hit by higher mortgage pricing, renewed cost-of-living concerns and geopolitical and domestic uncertainty. The effective rate on newly drawn mortgages rose to 4.22% in May, up from 4.08% in April, even though the BoE has kept rates on hold and has not yet seen evidence of second-round inflation effects. The fall in mortgage approvals suggests buyer caution is now feeding directly into weaker deal flow.

“Pressure is also building from the supply side. The Renters’ Rights Act, which came into effect in May, has added to the regulatory and operational demands on landlords, at a time when higher financing, tax and maintenance costs have already made buy-to-let less attractive. Some landlords may choose to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere, adding stock to the market and putting further pressure on prices. UK housing has long been treated as a reliable inflation hedge, but for leveraged landlords, that case now looks far less straightforward.”