HMRC has revealed that the provisional seasonally adjusted UK property transaction count for April 2019 was 99,420 residential and 11,300 non-residential transactions.
This represented a 0.3% fall between March 2019 and April 2019, and is 0.8% higher than April 2018.
The provisional seasonally adjusted count of non-residential property transactions increased by 9.5% between March 2019 and April 2019, and is 7.1% higher than April 2018.
Kevin Roberts, director of Legal & General Mortgage Club, said: “Despite greater innovation in the mortgage market and government schemes like Help to Buy and shared ownership, property transactions remain stagnant.
“To really see a boost, we need to fix our country’s imbalance between supply and demand by building more homes. Not only for first-time buyers, but across all housing tenures – young and old, renters and homeowners. As an industry, we are working to provide the solutions needed but we also need to ensure the Government is increasing supply and making the UK housing market accessible for all.”
Dave Harris, CEO at More 2 Life, added: “Amongst the UK’s over-55 homeowners, we are increasingly finding that more are choosing to stay in their current home rather than risk moving. Our recent research also showed that 35% of retirees hadn’t been able to downsize due to the costs being too high.
“The later life lending market needs to be reassuring these homeowners who need a financial boost during retirement, but are unable or unwilling to downsize, that there are options on the table. More often than not, a house is a person’s single biggest asset, and increasing people are realising that, by releasing the equity tied up in your home, you can give your pension pot a boost. This way, more retirees can utilise the value of their homes to spend on what they wish, from home improvements, their child’s first property, or that once-in-a-lifetime holiday.”