UK Housing Update | October 2026
More Sellers Are Cutting Asking Prices: What It Means If You Are Buying
Sellers are lowering asking prices at a pace not seen for 15 years. For buyers that can mean more choice and more room to negotiate, but only if you check the evidence before you offer.
What Has Been Reported
The BBC has published new Rightmove figures showing that, on average, sellers in Britain lowered the asking price on more than 3,000 homes every day in September. Rightmove says this is the highest monthly total in 15 years. The typical reduction was close to 7%, which is about £21,000 on a typically valued home. Around a third of listed homes (34%) had a price cut during the month, slightly below the recent peak of 36% in September 2023.The Figures at a Glance
- More than 3,000 asking-price cuts a day in Britain in September (Rightmove).
- The highest monthly total in 15 years.
- Average cut of nearly 7%, about £21,000 on a typically valued home.
- Homes that had a cut typically took 119 days to find a buyer, against 39 days for homes that kept their first price.
- Zoopla: homes for sale were 5% higher than a year earlier, while sales agreed were 9% lower.
Why Sellers Are Cutting Prices
There are more homes on the market, and buyers are choosier. The property portals say many buyers are working to tight budgets, with mortgage rates at a three-year high. Some sellers also started with a price that buyers simply did not accept. Many of these homes are not new. Zoopla found that a quarter of the homes newly listed in September had been on the market in the previous year, and six in ten of those came back at a lower asking price.
One month is not the whole story: September is usually a busy month for price cuts, because many sellers want to complete before the end of the year. Treat these figures as a useful signal, not a forecast.
What This Can Mean for You as a Buyer
More Choice and Less Rush
With more homes for sale, you can compare several properties before you commit. That gives you time to ask better questions and walk away from the wrong one.A Stronger Negotiating Position, When You Have Evidence
Sellers who have already cut their price have usually seen that the first figure did not work. They can be more open to a realistic offer, particularly when it is supported by recent sales and survey findings.A Price History That Tells You Something
A reduction shows how the seller's expectations have changed. The date of each cut, and how long the home has been listed, can help you judge how much room there may be.More Time for Your Checks
Homes that need a price cut are slower to sell. Zoopla found they were half as likely to find a buyer within the usual three months. That can give you time for a survey, a lease review and legal checks without competing offers hurrying you.A Second Look at Homes That Did Not Sell
A home that returned at a lower price may now be priced more realistically. The important step is to find out why it did not sell the first time.A Price Cut Is Not the Same as a Bargain
A reduced asking price is still only the seller's new hope. The 7% figure is the average size of the cuts sellers made. It is not the average discount that buyers negotiated. Rightmove also pointed out that some buyers become wary of a home that has sat unsold, even when nothing is wrong with it. In other cases there is a real reason: the price, the condition, the location or, for some homes, the terms of a lease. Sellers told the BBC that leasehold properties can be harder to sell.
Watch out: Do not assume you can take 7% off any home. A home that is still priced above comparable sales may need a lower offer than the reduced asking price suggests.
Five Checks Before You Make an Offer
- Look at the listing's price history: when it was first listed, how many cuts, and by how much.
- Check whether the home was listed before and withdrawn, or sold and fell through.
- Compare completed sale prices for similar homes nearby, not asking prices.
- Ask the agent about the seller's situation, any onward purchase and the chain.
- For a flat, review the lease length, ground rent, service charge and planned works before you rely on the price.
Tip: Base your offer on evidence you can show: comparable sales, survey findings and repair quotes. A clear reason carries more weight than a general claim that the market is slow.
An Illustrative Example
Imagine a home first listed at £500,000 that is cut by 7% to £465,000, a reduction of £35,000. If similar homes nearby have recently sold for around £455,000, the reduced price is still above the evidence. In that case the cut has brought the seller closer to the market, but not necessarily to a fair price. This is an illustration only, not a real property or a valuation.What About London and the South?
Conditions differ widely by region. Zoopla's data, reported by the BBC, showed that 74% of homes in Scotland listed between April and June sold within three months, compared with 30% in London. Zoopla linked slower sales in southern England to higher prices, stamp duty and owners, including some landlords, who do not need to sell. For buyers in South London this can mean time is often on your side. Each street and property is still different.A reduced asking price is the start of the conversation. Evidence decides your offer.
Looking at a Reduced-Price Home?
We work only for the buyer. We look at the price history, the comparable sales and the issues the listing does not mention, before you offer.
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