Property statistics for April show no growth as Iran war looms over market
Property sales went down in April, and the Iran war means they are unlikely to improve, say leading audit, tax and business advisory firm, Blick Rothenberg.
Heather Powell, a partner at the firm, said: “HMRC’s monthly property transactions figures for April 2026 are not happy reading. The number of both residential and commercial property sales are lower than those reported in March 2026.”
She added: “These figures are unlikely to improve. The negative impact of the war in Iran on buyer confidence can be expected to come through in the coming months. Property sales generally take 3-4 months from offer to completion; April’s statistics reflect opinions and optimism of buyers at the beginning of 2026 before the economic impact of the conflict began to be felt.”
Heather said: “government ministers attending the UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UK REiiF) in Leeds last week were keen to emphasise that they have improved the planning system. The key message from the delegates however was that increases in interest rates, significant increases in construction costs and a flat lining of sales prices means that many schemes are not viable. Developers will not build if they are going to lose money on a project, and bankers will not fund unprofitable schemes. Even those representing government funding need to be repaid!”
She added: “If the government is going to make significant steps towards it’s target of 1,500,000 new homes in the term of this Parliament it needs to look carefully at the best way to improve viability for house builders. This could be achieved by implementing incentives for first time buyers or reviewing the shared ownership rules. Currently the target of 1.5m new homes looks increasingly unachievable.”