{"id":13039,"date":"2026-08-16T15:40:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T15:40:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=13039"},"modified":"2026-08-16T15:40:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T15:40:47","slug":"a-flat-headache-why-england-flats-have-no-takers-despite-price-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=13039","title":{"rendered":"A flat headache: Why England flats have no takers despite price cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-133277842,imgsize-1382922,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/representational-image.jpg\" alt=\"A flat headache: Why England flats have no takers despite price cuts\" title=\"England flats have no takers despite price cuts\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"England flats have no takers despite price cuts\">England flats have no takers despite price cuts<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>England flat owners are struggling to find buyers, with many properties staying on the market for more than six months despite repeated price cuts. Deals are also collapsing after months of negotiations, leaving both homeowners and small landlords facing falling valuations and difficulties securing buyers.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"2\"\/>Data from property website Zoopla shows that most leasehold flats listed for sale across much of England in 2025 had not sold within six months.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"4\"\/>London had the highest share of unsold flats at about 87%, followed by the south-east at 85% and the east of England at 84%. The average was 80.5%, according to Richard Donnell, Zoopla\u2019s executive director.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"6\"\/>The gap between house and flat prices has also widened. Zoopla said average house prices across the UK rose 43% between 2016 and 2025, compared with just 10% for flats.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"10\"\/>It said \u201cuncertainty around leasehold in England is affecting the pricing of flats versus houses\u201d and was contributing to longer selling times.&#8221;<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"12\"\/>Most flats listed for sale in England are leasehold, with concerns over service charges, ground rents, one-off bills, cladding, lease extensions and buying freeholds affecting the market. A ban on new leasehold properties in England and Wales is unlikely to take effect until after the next election.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"15\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Buyers and sellers want different prices<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"17\"\/>Donnell says leasehold concerns are not the only reason flats are struggling.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"19\"\/>\u201cFlats take longer to find buyers because the natural buyer (the first-time buyer) and the natural seller (often an investor with no urgency to move) may want two different prices,\u201d he told The Guardian.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"21\"\/>In London, flats are the main route into home ownership for many first-time buyers. But investor-owned properties are often priced beyond their budgets.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"24\"\/>\u201cBut investor-owned flats are being priced above the typical first-time buyer budget (\u00a3450,000 v a \u00a3425,000 budget). So even though flats are what buyers there want, the ones investors are selling are out of reach.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"26\"\/>Mortgage lending is another hurdle. William Coe of mortgage broker Cleerly says tighter bank lending rules are shutting some buyers out, while surveyors are increasingly \u201cdown valuing\u201d flats.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"28\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Price cuts fail to bring buyers<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"30\"\/>Susan Young, who bought a two-bedroom freehold flat in a Devon seaside resort for \u00a3300,000, has cut the asking price to \u00a3280,000. <!-- -->She spent \u00a315,000-\u00a320,000 renovating the property, which she describes as being in \u201cimmaculate condition\u201d with \u201csuperb views\u201d.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"34\"\/>Yet she has had just four viewings in nine months, The Guardian reported.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"36\"\/>\u201cDespite not needing to buy (that is, no chain) and dropping the price to well under what I paid for it, I have only had four viewings in nine months,\u201d says Young, a former teacher who moved in in 2023 but now needs to relocate for family reasons.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"39\"\/>She plans to withdraw the property if there are no viewings by the end of summer and try again next year.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"41\"\/>\u201cIt is very dispiriting.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"43\"\/>Louisa, from London, has been trying to sell her leasehold flat for two and a half years. A recent deal collapsed for the third time after buyers sought another \u00a310,000 reduction.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"45\"\/>She bought the one-bedroom property for \u00a3200,000, while the failed sale was agreed at \u00a3145,000. She says banks would not lend on the flat because it is above a barber shop.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"48\"\/>\u201cI\u2019m not buying again in the near future. I\u2019m quite traumatised from the experience.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"50\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Small landlords are stuck too<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"52\"\/>Barbara Doolan, who lives in Sussex, tried to sell her Croydon flat in 2024 after owning it for 20 years. She cut the price twice but eventually rented it out again.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"55\"\/>\u201cI\u2019ve considered selling again \u2026 and the market is even worse now. Three agents have said I\u2019d need to drop the price by another \u00a330k to get some interest as small flats like this just aren\u2019t selling.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"58\"\/>Angie West and her wife have also struggled to sell their London buy-to-let flat. Listed for \u00a3325,000 in late 2024, it had its price reduced several times before two buyers pulled out. They then decided to rent it again.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"60\"\/>\u201cWhat concerns me most is that the combination of falling flat values, repeated failed sales, leasehold costs, licensing requirements and increasing complexity in the rental sector has left ordinary small landlords like us trapped,\u201d West says.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"62\"\/>\u201cThe whole process feels incredibly insecure. Buyers can pull out at any stage for almost any reason, with no financial consequence to them, while sellers are left paying legal fees, management pack costs and other expenses.\u201d<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/real-estate\/news\/a-flat-headache-why-england-flats-have-no-takers-despite-price-cuts\/articleshow\/133277825.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>England flats have no takers despite price cuts England flat owners are struggling to find buyers, with many properties staying on the market for more than six months despite repeated price cuts. Deals are also collapsing after months of negotiations, leaving both homeowners and small landlords facing falling valuations and difficulties securing buyers.Data from property [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/representational-image.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/representational-image.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/representational-image.jpg","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/representational-image.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/representational-image.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/representational-image.jpg","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/representational-image.jpg","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/representational-image.jpg","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/representational-image.jpg","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/representational-image.jpg","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/representational-image.jpg","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/representational-image.jpg","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/representational-image.jpg","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/representational-image.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"England flats have no takers despite price cuts England flat owners are struggling to find buyers, with many properties staying on the market for more than six months despite repeated price cuts. Deals are also collapsing after months of negotiations, leaving both homeowners and small landlords facing falling valuations and difficulties securing buyers.Data from property [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":1,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":4,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/representational-image.jpg",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/representational-image.jpg",300,169,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/representational-image.jpg",150,84,false]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-31\">\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}