As part of our ongoing commitment to provide you with everything you need to know about the UK property market, we’re rounding up what happened during Q3 2025 and what to expect from the housing market for the rest of the year.
The new year is officially in full swing and as we enter Spring, we’re taking a look back at what’s happened across the UK property market, how shared ownership is changing and what to expect going forward.
What’s happening in the UK housing market now that Q1 2026 is done?
Overall, 2025 was a year of stagnation for the UK property market, with most activity stunted by higher mortgage rates, the potential fallout from the Autumn Budget and changing Stamp Duty thresholds.
While the market managed to show some resilience despite these factors, the general consensus was that we’d leave 2025 and enter 2026 with a more positive outlook, both in terms of growth and potentially lower interest rates.
Unfortunately, this has yet to materialise, with several major house price indices showing minimal growth, if any at all, across key UK regions.
According to data from the House Price Index, the average UK house price is £270,259 as of February, a decrease of 0.7% from November prices.
Similarly, Nationwide data suggests house price growth was near enough flat during Q1 2026 at just 0.3%, after rising during December of last year.
Finally, Rightmove data suggests that house prices are down £12 on average during Q1, although their research also suggests that asking prices saw their biggest jump in (an individual) January for nearly 25 years, increasing by 2.8%.
This suggests that while positivity is returning to the market, confidence is being dented by other factors, including the potential cost of living increase that could come from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and how that might impact affordability.
What can we expect from house price growth over the rest of the year?
Despite this subdued activity, many major lenders and estate agents believe that house prices are set to rise this year, although it’s important to note that these predictions were made at the start of the quarter.
Estate agent Hamptons have the most positive forecast and anticipate an increase of 2.5% by the end of the year, driven by increases in key regions such as the West Midlands and the North West.
Halifax are slightly less bullish, predicting somewhere between 1% and 3% over the year, although they reinforce that this will be dictated by factors occurring overseas.
Finally, Savills predict that prices will increase by around 2% over the year, although they expect larger increases of 4%, 5%, 5.5% and 4% annually between 2027 and 2030, driven by wages improving across the country.
The majority of lenders believe growth will be primarily dictated by lower mortgage rates and affordability, acting as either a catalyst or a limiter depending on the region.
In terms of rents, JLL forecasts still suggest that UK rents will rise by 17.1% over the next five years, once again reinforcing why affordable schemes such as Shared Ownership will be a major point of assistance for those struggling to save for a deposit.
How do things look for first-time buyers?
While the market is largely the same for first-time buyers, especially as lenders continue to ease regulations around mortgages and affordability, the major headline is that the average age of a first-time buyer in England has hit 34.
Research shows that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get on the housing ladder and the amount of buyers under-25 now makes up just 6% of the market, a decrease of 19% over the last two decades.
At the same time, more than 50% of first-time buyers have reported needing two incomes to buy a home, compared to 40% in the 90s. Likewise, first-time buyers are still having to come up with larger deposits, which means potentially taking on more debt if buying through traditional means.
This is why Shared Ownership continues to be a critical scheme for many buyers and we’re increasingly seeing more enquiries around property in key regions.
