The best prime property buying agents in 2026

By Spears.

Welcome to the Spear’s ranking of the best buying agents who represent UHNW individuals seeking to buy prime property.

Spear’s WMS has published a detailed look at the prime and super-prime property buying agent sector, exploring how the best firms operate — and what genuinely separates them from the rest.

For high-net-worth buyers, working with a buying agent is fundamentally about access: to off-market opportunities, to the right professional network, and to strategic advice at every stage of the acquisition process. Leading agents spend their time building relationships with brokers, developers, family offices and private clients, often sourcing properties that never formally reach the open market.

Spears highlights a growing consensus around the importance of conflict-free representation. Many of the industry’s top practitioners believe that a buying agent should act exclusively for buyers — never accepting fees from third parties or representing sellers — a principle that sits at the heart of Black Brick’s own approach.

As the buying agent market has expanded significantly over the past two decades, quality and expertise vary enormously. True excellence at the top of the market, demands intellect, access and patience in equal measure.

For the full article, please click here.

Can going ‘off-market’ help sell my house?

In a sluggish market, canny tactics can be presented as a silver bullet. In London, a below-the-radar approach continues to seduce. But the strategy has mixed results.

By Liz Rowlinson.

Black Brick Managing Partner Camilla Dell is featured in the Financial Times, offering expert insight into the growing trend of off-market property transactions across London’s prime and super-prime markets.

Dell reveals that 73% of properties Black Brick purchased on behalf of clients last year were acquired off-market — up significantly from 50% in 2014. She describes the dynamic as akin to a game of poker, with both buyers and sellers keeping their cards close to their chest. When it comes to who is first in line for these discreet opportunities, Dell is clear: the best buying agents maintain a high-calibre contacts book spanning private individuals, private banks and developers, making them the natural first call for sellers seeking a qualified audience.

The FT article explores how off-market selling — once the near-exclusive preserve of properties above £1 million — is now being adopted across a wider range of price points, driven by seller concerns around listing fatigue, public price reductions and a desire for privacy. In prime central London, transaction volumes have declined and the average time from listing to exchange has lengthened, prompting a shift in strategy among both buyers and sellers.

Industry data cited in the piece shows that off-market approaches work best for best-in-class properties in sought-after locations, and that success is heavily dependent on the agent’s network and ability to generate genuine competition among buyers. The article also examines hybrid strategies — where sellers test pricing quietly before deciding whether to list publicly — and the growing role of buying agents at all levels of the market.

Please read the full article here.

Marylebone property prices are ‘defying gravity’

W1U saw prices rise more than 9 per cent in 2025, as those in broader prime central London fell more than 3 per cent. What is it doing right?

By Lauren Indvik.

Marylebone is bucking the broader prime central London (PCL) trend, with property prices in the W1U postcode rising 9.6% last year to £1,833 per square foot — at a time when the PCL average fell 3.4% to £1,611 per square foot, according to research by Black Brick and data provider LonRes.

Black Brick Managing Partner Camilla Dell, attributes Marylebone’s resilience to a combination of village character, strong community identity, and carefully curated retail — factors that continue to attract discerning buyers even in a price-sensitive market. As Dell puts it: “London is not doing so well, but look under the hood and there are pockets of positivity.”

The area’s Georgian squares, cobblestone mews and Victorian mansion blocks remain highly sought-after, particularly for properties east of Baker Street and south of Marylebone Road. Dell notes that location remains critical within the neighbourhood itself: “Marylebone is a really small area; how well and how quickly it sells depends so much on which street it’s on.” Properties near Harley Street and older mansion blocks close to Marylebone Road are considered less competitive than townhouses, mews houses and garden square addresses.

New-build developments have played a notable role in pushing average prices upward. Dell highlights Chiltern Place as a standout performer: “That building has defied gravity,” she says, pointing to its 24-hour concierge, gym and private cinema as key draws for prime buyers and investors. “There is a waiting list of people trying to buy or rent in the building.” A three-bedroom eighth-floor apartment in the development recently sold for close to £5,000 per square foot.

That said, Black Brick partner Tom Kain, observes a shift in buyer sentiment away from new-build premiums. “Period properties are in vogue,” he says. “Although refurbishing properties like that is expensive and arduous, there are genuinely great deals being struck on them.”

With new buyer enquiries in Q4 jumping 40% year-on-year according to Knight Frank — compared to a 6% drop across PCL — Marylebone’s fundamentals remain strong. The primary constraint on the market is supply, not demand.

Read the article here.

Musk ally buys £57m London penthouse in UK’s biggest deal since 2024

By David Byers.

Igor Babuschkin, the co-creator of Elon Musk’s xAI, has purchased the largest penthouse in Park Modern, a £530 million development overlooking Hyde Park

The co-founder of Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI has purchased a £57 million penthouse overlooking Hyde Park, in the most significant prime London property transaction since 2024, according to reporting in The Times.

Igor Babuschkin paid £10.7 million in stamp duty to acquire the 6,800 sq ft apartment at the Park Modern development in Bayswater, which features a 2,500 sq ft wraparound terrace — the largest in London — with views across Hyde Park and towards Kensington Palace. The property was purchased at shell and core, with Babuschkin understood to have commissioned the developer to design the interior.

Camilla Dell, Managing Director of Black Brick, gave a candid assessment of the deal to The Times. While noting that she has never been an unconditional advocate of the development’s location on a busy road — and would personally favour Mayfair or Marylebone at this price point — she acknowledged the property’s clear appeal to a certain buyer profile. “It’s a secure lock-up-and-leave, with a fantastic view over the park,” she said. “And for an ultra-high-net-worth individual, owning a penthouse is the ultimate trophy asset — sometimes ultra-high-net-worth individuals can be just really obsessive about only wanting to own a penthouse. It’s a penthouse or nothing.”

Dell also offered a broader read on current market sentiment, noting an improving mood since the Autumn Budget, while cautioning that political uncertainty could yet weigh on confidence. “I do feel like there’s a little bit of a mood change,” she said, adding that continued political turbulence could prove damaging — particularly if it brought to power figures less favourable to wealth and taxation than the current administration.

The sale comes against a difficult recent backdrop for London’s luxury property market, where prices for prime homes worth £4.5 million or more fell 4.8% in 2025, according to Savills, amid the abolition of non-dom status and elevated stamp duty rates.

To learn more, read the article here.

From Gwyneth and Nicole to Boy George and the Gallaghers — inside London’s celeb home swap shop

Liam, Noel, Gwynnie, Nicole…why do they all sell to, buy and rent from each other?

By Ruth Bloomfield.

For your everyday A-list celebrity, house hunting can be a trial, despite the vast budgets at their disposal.

Because a star has certain needs which us civilians don’t need to worry about — high walls, a way to get in and out without attracting attention and neighbours unlikely to get star struck or ring the papers if they pop out for a pint of milk in their PJs.

And this is probably why so many household names buy homes with a celebrity track record.

Liam Gallagher, riding high on the triumph of Oasis’s reunion tour, is said to have spent some of the proceeds on an eight-bedroom Cotswolds mansion previously owned by football icon Tony Adams, having rented locally last year to try out the area with fiancée Debbie Gwyther.

Adams’s property has five acres of grounds, offering plenty of room for the couple’s rescue dog Buttons to frolic in. It also has a swimming pool, stables and a cottage for staff, and was sold for £4.25 million over Christmas.

The former Arsenal and England captain bought the property near Cirencester more than two decades ago for £2 million, and has upgraded it with must-have celebrity extras including a cinema and games room.

Not to be outdone, the other Gallagher brother, Noel, was responsible for kicking off one of the most enduring celebrity home swap stories in London’s history.

In 1997 he bought an unassuming three-bedroom terrace in Steele’s Road, Belsize Park, for £2 million, christening the property Supernova Heights in honour of the Oasis hit Champagne Supernova.

For years it was party central for the Primrose Hill Set, until Gallagher and his now ex-wife Meg Matthews moved out of town.

It was sold on to a close friend of Matthews, former Hollyoaks actor Davinia Taylor. She paid £3.25m for the house, and lived there until 2005 when she sold up to Britain’s Got Talent host David Walliams for a relatively knockdown £2.97m.

North London is very much the heartland of celebrity house swaps — an early iteration involved Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin buying a home in Belsize Park following their 2003 wedding.

The deal was complex, involving the purchase of several properties which they amalgamated into one 33-room house screened by a high brick wall.

One of those properties was a townhouse belonging to Kate Winslet and her ex-husband, film director Sam Mendes, which they bought for £2.5m. After their conscious uncoupling the former Paltrow-Martin home was sold in 2022 for £12.5m.

Just up the road, film director Tim Burton paid actor Tom Conti, star of Shirley Valentine, £11m for his Edwardian mansion in Hampstead in 2018, following his split with Helena Bonham Carter.

“I think one of the reasons why celebrities, and indeed other high-profile buyers, like to buy from people they know or who they perceive to be at a similar place in life to them is reassurance,” says buying agent Camilla Dell, managing partner of Black Brick. “It’s the old saying: ‘If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me.’”

Robbie Williams must have thought he had really arrived when he bought the magnificent Woodland House in Holland Park from the late film director Michael Winner in 2016.

The Queen Anne-style house is Grade II* listed, and cost the former Take That singer £17.5m.

It is more than possible that Williams also felt that he, his wife Ayda Field, and their young children, would be able to enjoy relative privacy in a neighbourhood well used to rock royalty — the Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page owns the house next door.

Unfortunately Williams and Page have fallen out, spectacularly, over the former’s plans to upgrade and extend his home.

Page claimed that Williams’s plans to build a basement swimming pool beneath the property would compromise the foundations of his Grade I listed home.

Williams eventually won permission for the basement extension, but hostilities continued with Page objecting to a whole series of projects including building a children’s playhouse and cutting down a diseased Norway maple tree.

Other musicians have been far more civilised in their dealings. When Sam Smith bought the house next door to Boy George’s gothic mansion in Hampstead in 2015 with the proceeds of his debut album, the older star was fulsome in his praise of the “lovely” singer.

A few years later Smith agreed to sell the house to Boy George, who amalgamated the two properties.

Later still, after trying and failing to sell the property, Boy George decided to rent it out instead — his elevated tenants have included Nicole Kidman, who paid a cool £65,000pcm to live at the five-bedroom house last year while filming a sequel to Practical Magic at the Warner Bros Studios in Hertfordshire.

Marc Schneiderman, director of Arlington Residential estate agents, believes there are many reasons for stars to house swap.

“The principal demands for celebrity homeowners will always be privacy and security,” he explains. “Homes tucked away and unseen from prying eyes, with gardens not overlooked by neighbours, are highly prized and likely to already be in the ownership of a celebrity.”

Schneiderman says this kind of home also tends to exchange hands between red carpet acquaintances.

“In the past few years there have been two instances where we have been appointed to sell the homes of well-known owners in the media and arts sector, one in Highgate, the other in Hampstead Village,” he says.

“In both cases they informed me from the very outset that (celebrity) friends have made it clear that if they were to ever sell, they would be interested to hear.

“One of those buyers eventually purchased our celebrity client’s house, the other found they were competing with separate buyers we had introduced, which pushed the price well beyond what they wanted to pay.”

Given their habit of moving from club to club around the world, footballers are regularly inclined to live in each other’s homes.

While playing for Crystal Palace, Mamadou Sakho and his family lived in a multi-million-pound gated property in Wimbledon, rented from former Chelsea and Arsenal player Nicolas Anelka.

Meanwhile, Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk rented a £4m Cheshire mansion from Manchester United player and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær, who had bought the house when he moved to the UK.

Scott Joseph, director and head of prime central London at Anderson Rose estate agents, says sportspeople appreciate the security of living in a home chosen by a well known figure within their industry. “There’s an understanding that it is premium enough for them and is a home that they can truly trust in,” he says.

Beyond the quality of the finish, Nina Harrison, a buying agent at Haringtons UK, finds the famous have surprisingly similar requirements.

“When a house has been owned by someone in the public eye, the small but crucial details are already sorted,” she says.

“The security works, the staff routes make sense, entrances are discreet. Those things aren’t added later. They’re built in.”

Then there are the neighbours. “Streets long used to high-profile residents are relaxed and almost protective,” she adds.

“Drop a famous name onto an unaccustomed street and suddenly everyone’s watching. WhatsApp groups light up, builders are questioned and curtains twitch. Even minor changes become hot gossip, which is exactly what most high-profile buyers are trying to avoid.”

To learn more, read the article here.

Buying agency secures sizeable discount on Belgravia townhouse

Super-prime residence near The Berkeley was acquired off-market for just under £14mn, illustrating a wider market trend.

By PrimeResi.

Black Brick has completed the off-market purchase of a six-bedroom townhouse on Wilton Crescent, one of Belgravia’s most prestigious addresses, securing a 13% reduction on the original asking price for a repeat client based in Asia.

The property — a period home spanning more than 5,500 sq ft, with two private terraces and access to a communal garden — was originally listed at £16mn. Black Brick’s buying team identified it through their exclusive off-market network and negotiated the acquisition at £13.88mn (£2,495 per sq ft), completing the transaction last month.

The client had previously purchased an apartment in the neighbourhood through Black Brick and returned to the agency when seeking to upsize to a larger home with outdoor space. Grand period houses of this calibre on streets such as Wilton Crescent — situated between The Berkeley hotel and Belgrave Square — rarely reach the open market, making off-market access a decisive advantage.

Read the article here.

Why have so many £1m-plus rural homes lost their value post-Covid?

By David Byers.

The pandemic triggered a boom in seven-figure countryside properties — but tens of thousands have since lost that status. Plus, find out how your area has fared.

The pandemic-era rush to rural Britain has gone sharply into reverse, with countryside property values falling significantly while London and its suburbs regain their appeal — a trend Black Brick’s experts saw coming, according to reporting in The Times.

Research by Savills reveals that the number of homes valued at £1 million or more across Britain fell from 736,668 to 673,143 between 2022 and 2025 — a decline of 9%. Rural and coastal areas have been hardest hit: in the southwest, 42% of homes that crossed the £1 million threshold during Covid have since fallen back below it, while similar reversals have been seen across East Anglia, the southeast and Wales.

Tom Kain, buying agent at Black Brick, said the correction came as little surprise. He described the experience of a client who sold his London home during the pandemic to relocate to a remote corner of Devon — only to be called back to the office shortly afterwards. “Why didn’t you just see how Covid went for another year?” Kain observed.

The retreat from the countryside has been driven by a combination of factors: employers requiring staff to return to the office, higher mortgage rates, increased council tax surcharges on second homes — now applied by 71% of English councils — and tax changes affecting holiday lets introduced in last autumn’s Budget.

Camilla Dell, Managing Director of Black Brick, reflected on how pre-Budget uncertainty weighed heavily on prime London buyers during the second half of last year. “It was not helpful,” she told The Times. “My wealthiest client — we had everything teed up, ready to go, and he pressed pause. He said, let’s just wait for the budget. So he did press pause on that. But then the budget happened and we exchanged.”

While prime central London has faced its own headwinds — including the abolition of non-dom status and stamp duty increases — the data suggests a gradual rebalancing is underway, with demand returning to well-connected suburbs such as Richmond, Islington, Beaconsfield and the Hertfordshire commuter belt, where seven-figure sales are once again on the rise.

To learn more, read the article here.

Gulf bargain-hunters miss out as Americans swoop on London’s luxury property market

By Paul Carey.

Waiting for the market to reach bottom may mean losing out on the perfect home, warns expert

Black Brick’s annual report reveals shifting buyer demographics, rising neighbourhoods, and what £1 million buys across the capital today.

Middle Eastern buyers sitting on the sidelines of London’s prime central property market may be waiting too long, according to Camilla Dell, Managing Partner of Black Brick. While nearly a fifth of buyers currently registered with the firm originate from the Middle East, Dell warns that a cautious approach carries its own risks.

“The time to buy and get the best deals done is when others are fearful,” said Dell. “Trying to time the exact bottom of the market may risk losing out on your perfect home.”

The warning comes as Black Brick’s Value in Vogue report — reviewing the defining trends of 2025 and the outlook for 2026 — shows American buyers filling the gap left by hesitant Middle Eastern investors. US nationals accounted for 22% of Black Brick sales in 2025, up from under 5% in 2014, with high-profile names such as Tom Ford and George Lucas among those acquiring super-prime London homes.

Mayfair and Marylebone Overtake Traditional Hotspots

American buyers’ preference for period properties has reshaped which neighbourhoods lead the market. Mayfair and Marylebone have displaced Chelsea and Kensington as the most sought-after prime central London locations, with 84% of Black Brick clients now favouring period homes over new builds.

Dell attributes Mayfair’s transformation to sustained investment in its public realm and retail offer: “Mayfair has had a real renaissance — it was more of a business district in 2014, not somewhere to buy a cool flat.”

Marylebone (W1U) recorded the strongest price growth of any prime central London postcode in 2025 at 9.6%, with an average sale price of £2.42 million. Tom Kain, Partner at Black Brick, cited its central location, thriving high street, and proximity to Regent’s Park as key drivers of demand.

What £1 Million Buys Today

The report, drawing on additional research by property analyst LonRes, highlights how far purchasing power stretches across the capital. In Mayfair, a £1 million budget equates to roughly 417 sq ft — studio-sized. Outer London suburbs offer considerably more: in Wimbledon, the same budget could secure a three-bedroom terrace.

Among the suburbs tracked, Hampstead led price growth at 10.6% to an average of £3.8 million, followed by Putney, Muswell Hill, and Chiswick. Dell credits schooling as a major factor: “Hampstead has some of the best private primary and secondary schools in London — we get a lot of people who want to move there for that reason.”

A Decade of Resilience

Despite what the report describes as a challenging decade for London property — shaped by tax changes, Brexit, the pandemic, and the cost-of-living crisis — Marylebone and Mayfair have demonstrated the strongest long-term value retention, posting positive price growth since 2016 while areas including South Kensington and Chelsea have seen significant declines.

Read the article here.

From Peak to Present: How prime London’s property market has changed since 2014

Back in 2014, the property market in London was booming with international investment and new-build developments, to name just a few.

By PrimeResi

A new report from Black Brick, the leading London buying agency, charts the dramatic transformation of London’s prime property market between 2014 and 2025 — from a seller’s peak to a buyer’s market defined by negotiating power, shifting demographics and evolving location preferences.

From Seller’s Market to Buyer’s Advantage

The contrast between 2014 and 2025 could scarcely be starker. Where buyers once secured average discounts of under 4% against asking price, Black Brick’s agents are now achieving average savings of £612,386 — representing an 8% discount. Off-market transactions have also surged, rising from half of all acquisitions in 2014 to nearly three-quarters in 2025.

New-Builds Fall Out of Favour

One of the most striking shifts has been the collapse in demand for new-build homes. New-builds accounted for 56% of Black Brick’s acquisitions at the market’s peak; by 2025, that figure had fallen to just 16%.

Camilla Dell, Founder and Managing Partner at Black Brick, explains: “New builds might have gone out of favour in this weaker market, because people are looking for value for money” — pointing to service charges and upfront premiums that are harder to justify when capital growth is uncertain.

Owner-Occupiers Now Drive Prime London

The investment-led buying that characterised 2014 has largely given way to lifestyle-driven purchasing. Just 11% of Black Brick’s 2025 acquisitions were investment purchases, compared with 40% in 2014 — a clear signal that prime London is now predominantly a market for those who intend to call it home.

Marylebone and Mayfair Lead the Way

Location preferences have shifted considerably. While Kensington, Chelsea and South Kensington dominated in 2014, W1 postcodes now account for over a fifth of Black Brick’s transactions. Dell describes Mayfair as having undergone a “renaissance”, driven by public realm improvements and a transformation in perceptions of liveability.

Marylebone has been the standout performer, with prices in W1U rising 9.6% in 2025 — a remarkable result in an otherwise flat market.

What £1 Million Buys Today

Purchasing power in central London has eroded significantly. A £1 million budget now stretches to approximately 400 sq ft in Mayfair and under 500 sq ft in Knightsbridge — driving growing interest in prime outer London locations such as Wimbledon, Putney and Chiswick, where the same budget can deliver more than 1,000 sq ft.

Read the full article here.

Will 2026 be a good year to buy or sell a home?

Looking to move home in the new year? Property experts share their advice

By Emma Magnus.

New year, new home? If you’re looking to buy a new home in London in 2026, you might be wondering what to expect.

Post-Budget, it might look like there are slim pickings out there. Uncertainty around the Budget caused house prices to fall across the capital, slowing down the market as buyers and sellers chose to hold off.

And while the Budget didn’t create the major overhaul that people feared, Christmas is not a popular time to sell.

So, will the market ever pick back up? Is 2026 a good time to buy a new home in London?

What to expect in January

With the Budget and Christmas out of the way, it seems likely that things will pick up for buyers in the new year.

We’re talking a potential influx of new properties on the market, more stability and greater affordability, given that interest rates were cut to a three-year low last week. All of which is good news for buyers.

“I think there’ll be a lot of choice because lots of people have been sitting on their hands, so to speak, waiting for the Budget. They haven’t even gone onto the market,” says Catherine Merrett at Harding Green.

“What you want when you’re moving house is as much choice as possible. You tend to get that in the spring market, which might come early this year…I think we’ll see a lot of activity.”

“Our view is often that the bigger the pause, the more substantial the rebound,” agrees north London estate agent Jeremy Leaf.

“That said, we don’t expect to see any great increase in house prices because there is still plenty of stock available in most price ranges and continuing underlying concerns about the strength of the economy generally.”

The outlook for first-time buyers

For first-time buyers, 2026 could be a good time to get on the property ladder, experts say.

Not only are house prices likely to remain more stable, but borrowing costs are lower. “Hopefully that’s to stay, but we don’t know,” says Merrett. “Get [your mortgage rate] fixed.”

Likewise, with flats having seen smaller price growth than houses this year, they could present an opportunity to first-time buyers, especially if the seller is motivated.

“How those prices are going to rise long-term, I don’t know, but that’s where you’re going to get good value,” says Merrett. “But that’s quite good for first-time buyers: you can get more space for your money in certain areas.”

A good time to downsize?

At the other end of the market, commentators believe that the introduction of Rachel Reeves’ new Mansion Tax on properties valued over £2 million, which will come into effect in 2028, is likely to prompt sales from downsizers.

“If you can afford properties of those sorts of values, is that really going to stop you now? I don’t think so,” says Merrett.

“You might see more downsizers where people are property-rich, so they’ve got all their money from the property.

“They might find that it does affect their month-to-month spending, so perhaps now is the time to downsize. You might see more properties coming on the market from that sort of seller.”

Nina Harrison, buying agent at Haringtons, believes that downsizers might get good value from smart, new-build flats. “Whatever the developers say, times are hard, and if you’re standing there with a balance of cash, you will get a good deal.”

What’s hot

Good primary schools

Unsurprisingly, properties in community-focused areas close to good primary schools remains as popular as ever. Or perhaps even more so, argues Guy Meacock, director of buying agency Prime Purchase.

“We are seeing ever greater value put on the importance of a decent high street and community, with quality of amenity and infrastructure, and we expect properties for sale in areas with these will be popular next year.

“There are also likely to be a lot of school-driven buyers; with London schools outperforming the rest of the country, those areas with good state schools will do well. We have seen a flight to quality with education as school fees have gone up.”

This, says Meacock, drives the continued popularity of central London areas like Hampstead, Marylebone, Notting Hill, Kensington and Chelsea – or, further out, the likes of Highgate, Queens Park, Dulwich Village, Clapham, Wimbledon and Barnes.

Leafy suburbs

Over the past decade, houses in outer London have seen greater price rises than those in inner London.

Rather than living more centrally, Harrison says that post-Covid, younger clients prefer to commute into work from greener, more suburban areas like Balham or Tooting.

“I think that will carry on,” she says. “I don’t get the impression that the City is recovering.”

Newer alternatives include areas like Colindale and Dollis Hill. “It’s a great Edwardian suburb with huge gardens, and transport is very good,” she says. “Dollis Hill is going up and up and up.”

Merrett says the same of areas like Acton and Ealing, which offer more affordable alternatives to Chiswick.

“If you go a bit further out…You’re going to get more value for money. They still have very good transport links, and they are still very nice areas. It’s just not as expensive.”

Freehold houses

Freehold houses, up to the value of around £1.5 million, says Merrett, remain enduringly popular, especially with second steppers.

“They always carry on getting lots of interest, especially where they’re near outstanding primary schools.”

What’s not

Leasehold

In December, details of the government’s Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill were pushed back to the new year, in what will come as a setback for the country’s 4.8 million leaseholders — particularly those trying to sell up.

“There’s definitely an anti-leasehold thing: people buy flats, but they want a freehold,” says Harrison.

“People want that sense of ownership – they didn’t seem to mind before. I suppose it’s a function of there being a lot more buyers from overseas.”

One-beds

More landlords selling is putting more flats on the market. This could be an advantage for buyers in terms of driving a bargain – but some flats may make better investments than others, says Harrison. “Everybody wants that second bedroom just in case.”

Investors might save some money by scrimping on an apartment’s views, but these, says Harrison, are not popular with buyers who’ll live there themselves. “They are the hardest, most difficult ones to shift.”

All of this, though, can produce opportunities for a canny buyer.

Basement flats

“Basements, unfortunately, I would always counsel against,” says Harrison. “They sell, they clearly have a market, but I would counsel against them. Never buy a ground floor, because the front door’s always slamming.”

Tips for buyers

Do your research

“Start looking at the portals now to get a sense of whether there are more things coming up,” says Harrison, who says that more “normal buyers” are using buying advisers to “do the slog and give comfort”.

“Rightmove is your best friend,” agrees Merrett. “Research the areas, make sure that it is an area where there is a lot of activity going on; do your research on property prices. That research part is very important.”

And if you see a property you like, get a sense of your negotiating power by asking the estate agent some strategic questions, she adds.

How long has it been on for? What level of interest have they had? Have there been viewings at the weekend?

Get ready to buy

“If you’re looking to buy, the first thing you should do is peak to a couple of mortgage brokers and make sure you know exactly what your affordability is before you start searching, because otherwise you end up wasting a lot of time,” says Merrett.

“As soon as you see that property that you want to buy, you want to have your mortgage approval in principle ready, your solicitor ready. You then look very strong, especially if it is a competitive situation.”

Don’t drive too hard a bargain

Conditions in 2025 have favoured buyers, says Camilla Dell, founder of Black Brick. “At Black Brick, on average we saved our clients £385,000 from asking prices (seven per cent).

“I expect conditions in 2026 to continue to favour buyers, but in my experience trying to time the exact bottom can risk missing out on your dream home. The best time to buy is when others are fearful and there’s plenty of stock.”

Harrison agrees, having seen buyers “flinging in the lowest possible offers” post-Budget. “Be careful of that. You do not want to insult the seller,” she advises. “Any sensible seller has a plan B…They won’t be held to ransom.”

Beware of running costs

In addition to Rachel Reeves’ new Mansion Tax on homes above £2 million, Londoners in boroughs like Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, Wandsworth, Westminster, the City of London and Windsor and Maidenhead are likely to see significant increases —perhaps as much as 75 per cent—in council tax.

“Be mindful of annual running costs,” advises Dell. “Our advice is to look carefully at what you are buying, [including] the annual costs today compared to what they will be when these changes come in, and to use that as part of your negotiation strategy on price.”

Renovation work might not be a bad idea – if the location is right

With construction costs soaring post-pandemic, homeowners have shied away from large renovation projects in recent years. And while taking on a do-er upper is still potentially expensive, prices are beginning to come down.

“I say to my clients: if it’s where you want to be, do not run away from it,” says Harrison. “There’s no doubt you’d have to rent somewhere else, or stay with parents, or camp on your office floor. But if it’s a good enough space, don’t be afraid of that.”

Read the article here.