Prime London property transactions have strengthened over the summer as buyers become increasingly accustomed to political and economic uncertainty, according to buying agency Black Brick.
Knight Frank data cited in Black Brick’s September market report shows transactions across prime London increased 14% in the three months to July compared with the same period of 2025.
Prime Central London recorded a more modest 3% increase, but Black Brick says its own enquiries and new client numbers suggest momentum is building ahead of the Autumn Budget.
The improvement comes despite continued pressure on values. Savills data cited by the buying agency puts Prime Central London prices 26.3% below their 2014 peak.
BUYERS RETURN
Black Brick says the market is now being driven primarily by domestic buyers seeking main residences and international purchasers relocating to London or looking for a pied-à-terre, rather than speculative investors.
Camilla Dell (main picture), Managing Partner at Black Brick, says: “The buyers that are left are looking for a place to live, and they have stopped talking about politics and instability. That feels like the norm now.”
Lower values are also creating opportunities for buyers who have been waiting to enter the market.
Dell adds: “The drop in values across prime London is a sweetener for a lot of clients who have been waiting for some time to buy.”
HIGH-VALUE TAX LOOMS
The market is also preparing for the High Value Council Tax Surcharge, which will apply to owners of English residential properties valued at £2 million or more from April 2028. Government proposals set annual charges at £2,500 for homes worth £2 million to £2.5 million, rising to £7,500 for those above £5 million.
The Valuation Office, now part of HMRC, will conduct a targeted exercise based on 2026 property values to determine which homes fall within the four bands. Government estimates suggest around 165,000 properties could initially be liable.
Black Brick expects the thresholds to influence pricing behaviour, particularly for properties close to the £2 million entry point.
Tom Kain, Partner at Black Brick, says: “I think that valuation will be most contentious in properties in the lowest band, from £2m to £2.5m. The people who own these homes are not necessarily super wealthy and the band itself is extremely narrow.”
STALE STOCK OFFERS OPPORTUNITIES
Meanwhile, LonRes figures cited by Black Brick show prime London sale prices have fallen almost 8% over the past year, with more than half of homes sold in July having undergone at least one asking-price reduction.
The average reduction from original asking price stands at 10.4%, but the length of time a property spends on the market appears to make a significant difference.
Homes selling within three months have achieved an average discount of less than 4% this year, compared with more than 19% for properties taking at least a year to sell.
Kain says: “Pricing a property too ambitiously from the outset can leave it sitting on the market for months, making it increasingly difficult to achieve the price the seller wants.
“The longer a property remains unsold, the more negotiating leverage a buyer tends to have.”
