The housing market in England and Wales remained subdued throughout the third quarter of 2026, with no meaningful seasonal recovery in sight, according to Legal Futures, reporting on Landmark Information Group’s Q3 2026 Residential Property Trends Report. The report, which also covers Scotland, finds that buyer hesitancy, borrowing costs and geopolitical uncertainty combined to suppress transaction volumes across the quarter.
In England and Wales, the year-on-year fall in Sold Subject to Contract (SSTC) volumes averaged 11% across Q3 2026, a steeper drop than the 6% decline recorded for the same quarter in 2025, as reported by Landmark’s Q3 2025 report published in October 2025. While agreed sales rose in absolute terms between August and September, Landmark’s data indicates that the increase was weaker than in 2025, pointing to growing caution among buyers rather than renewed momentum.
Transaction pipeline weakens from search to completion
New listing volumes in England and Wales averaged just 2% lower year-on-year across the quarter, with September listings matching the equivalent month in 2025. Ex-rental properties and existing stock continued to provide buyers with a broad choice of homes, and asking-price reductions helped improve affordability. Even so, those conditions proved insufficient to drive stronger purchase activity.
Conveyancer search order volumes averaged 12% lower year-on-year in Q3 2026, and the anticipated build in search activity through September did not materialise. Completion volumes were 7% lower year-on-year across the quarter. The mortgage market reflected a similar pattern: valuation volumes were 7% lower year-on-year in August, narrowing to a 2% shortfall in September. Landmark’s report notes that borrowers and brokers continued to react to rising rates, with some seeking to lock in offers ahead of further increases while others held back.
Elizabeth Jarvis, Divisional Director of Legal and Search at Landmark, observed that caution persists beyond the point of agreeing a sale. ‘Buyers need confidence to keep progressing their purchase, and the weaker search order activity suggests that maintaining momentum through the transaction is becoming more difficult,’ she said. ‘Conveyancers and agents should work together to share reliable property information earlier and resolve issues sooner, giving buyers greater certainty to proceed.’
Rob Gurney, Managing Director of Ochresoft, a Landmark business, cautioned that a quieter market does not automatically translate into a lighter workload for conveyancing professionals. ‘Fewer cases do not necessarily mean a lighter workload for conveyancers. The amount of work required within an individual transaction continues to grow, so lower market activity is not delivering the shorter timescales consumers expect,’ he said.
Scotland sees parallel declines as seller expectations adjust
Scotland’s market also contracted in Q3 2026, with listing volumes averaging 8% lower year-on-year and Sold Subject to Missives (SSTM) volumes down by the same margin. Completion volumes in Scotland fell 9% year-on-year across the quarter. The contrast with Q3 2025 is marked: Landmark’s Q3 2025 report recorded SSTM volumes up 4% and completions up 10% year-on-year for Scotland in that earlier period.
An increasing proportion of Scottish homes being marketed at fixed prices rather than on an ‘offers over’ basis suggests sellers are adjusting expectations to attract buyers. First-time buyer incentives introduced by the Scottish Government at the end of June 2026 had, according to the report, yet to translate into a sustained uplift in activity. The Scottish Government’s Housing Market Review for Q2 2026, published in July 2026, recorded that residential property sales in Scotland rose from 99,832 in 2024-25 to 104,339 in 2025-26, a rise of 4.5%.
Richard Hepburn, Landmark’s Director of Scotland, said availability alone would not bring buyers back. ‘Until those wider affordability pressures ease, incentives may help individual households without generating a broader recovery in activity,’ he said.
Simon Brown, Landmark’s Chief Executive, pointed to ongoing reform efforts as necessary alongside any market recovery. ‘Longer transactions in a quieter market make the need for reform even clearer,’ he said, citing Landmark’s Sales Pack Ready tool and LandmarkConnect’s digital hubs as steps towards the goals set out by the Project 28 Charter and what he described as the Government’s reform roadmap. ‘Success must be measured by shorter transactions and greater certainty for buyers and sellers,’ Brown added.
Landmark’s earlier quarterly reports, published in July 2026, recorded SSTC volumes in England and Wales down 7% in Q2 2026 and search order volumes down 8% for that quarter, as the Landmark Q2 2026 Residential Property Trends Report set out. The Q3 2026 data represents a deterioration from those Q2 figures across most indicators. In April 2026, Landmark’s Q1 2026 blog reported that completion volumes in England and Wales were 18% lower than Q1 2025, with SSTC volumes down 8%, as detailed in Landmark’s Q1 2026 market analysis.
The full Q3 2026 Residential Property Trends Report is available from Landmark Information Group. Brown’s statement that ‘there is little in this quarter’s data to suggest that will change in the near term’ represents Landmark’s current position on market direction.
