London Property Market Faces Losses as Northern england Gains Momentum
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A growing number of London homeowners are selling properties at a loss, signaling a meaningful shift in the UK housing market. New analysis reveals that 14.8 percent of London sellers in 2025 sold for less then their original purchase price,exceeding the national average of 8.7 percent and marking the highest proportion of loss-making sales in the capital in a decade.
London Losses outpace National Trends
According to research conducted by Hamptons, based on Land Registry data, the proportion of London sellers experiencing a loss remained consistent with 2024, but continues to be markedly higher than any other region in England and Wales. This represents the first time in ten years that the North East has not held the unfortunate distinction of leading the contry in loss-making sales.
The downturn in London is particularly acute for flats, with 22 percent sold at a loss compared to just 3.5 percent of houses. This disparity is creating challenges for flat owners hoping to trade up to larger properties, as one analyst noted, “it’s increasingly difficult for flat owners to bridge the step up to a house.”
Losses are concentrated in the capital’s most expensive boroughs. The City of London, Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, and Hammersmith and Fulham all reported loss-making sales exceeding 20 percent. Conversely, more affordable areas like Barking and Dagenham saw a substantially lower rate of 5.3 percent.
A Decade of Shifting Fortunes
The trend represents a stark contrast to the past. A senior official at Hamptons stated, “In London, upward house price growth is no longer the one-way bet it onc seemed.” The share of loss-making sales in London has steadily increased, rising from 5.9 percent a decade ago to 9.2 percent in 2019, and now reaching 14.8 percent in 2025.
Meanwhile, the North East has experienced a dramatic turnaround. The proportion of loss-making sales in the region has more than halved as 2019, falling to 13.9 percent in 2025. This regional divergence is contributing to a broader national trend.
North-South Divide Widens
“Nationally, rising gains in the north have helped offset shrinking returns in the south,” explained aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons. “And with much of the recent price growth in the north and midlands now baked in, it’s possible that seller gains there could outpace those in the south – in both cash and percentage terms – for the foreseeable future.”
Recent FT analysis corroborates this shift, revealing that house prices are currently falling in approximately half of London’s boroughs, with flats consistently underperforming other property types. [Placeholder for chart showing regional house price trends]
Beveridge predicts that over the next few years, more London sellers will find themselves having missed the peak of the 2012-2016 housing boom, having rather purchased at the market’s high point.
The current market conditions echo concerns raised by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, wich recently published research demonstrating that the property price boom of the 1990s and 2000s exacerbated social inequalities. the analysis found that the considerable wealth gains generated by rising house prices disproportionately benefited children of homeowners in booming areas, increasing their likelihood of homeownership in london and the wider southeast.
peter Levell, a deputy research director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, emphasized the lasting impact of this trend, stating, “The surge in house prices from the mid-1990s until the mid-2000s created significant and lasting inequalities – not just between people at the time, but among their children as well.”
The evolving landscape of the UK property market underscores the complex interplay between regional economic factors, ancient trends, and long-term social consequences.
