Market Insights May 2026

Please see our May Market Insights, sharing the trends we're seeing shape prime central London property this month.

As always, the team and I would be delighted to answer any questions or discuss the market in more detail. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Best wishes

Jo Eccles

Founder and Managing Director, Eccord

+44 (0) 20 7244 4482

jo.eccles@eccord.com

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Activity increases as buyers seek clarity

We have received a 30% increase in buying enquiries over the past six weeks, versus the same period last year. We attribute this to two factors: 1) increasing value opportunities enticing potential buyers to consider their options; and 2) a lack of confidence amongst active buyers who are cautious navigating such a fragmented market alone.

Enquiries range from potential buyers at the very initial stages – seeking to understand the market and explore their options – through to those ready to act, or who have been searching independently but now want professional representation to take the next step.

Increasingly, we're also hearing from buyers who are circling a property and uncertain whether to commit, or who have had an offer accepted and are questioning their decision. While it’s impossible to provide complete clarity without an exhaustive search of the market, we're always happy to share our initial thoughts and details of trusted professionals in our network where helpful.

Active buyers include families moving from a rental and buying for the long term, downsizers seeking to release the burden (and equity) of owning a larger property, and US purchasers seeking London pied-à-terres or relocating here. Budgets are ranging from £2m - £25m typically, but there have been some noteworthy super prime transactions in recent months, including a house in Chelsea in excess of £200m. 

London is coming back onto the radar of some international family offices who are starting to assess value propositions and their options as a first step, although some have indicated they are unlikely to make decisions until there is greater clarity around the political landscape and direction of government.

Off market properties dominate with 5:1 ratio

Fear of not having seen everything available is the main factor weighing on the minds of buyers and undermining confidence. Off market properties – those quietly available without any online listing, plus withdrawn properties where former sellers would gladly welcome a conversation – currently outnumber online listings by approximately 5:1 in prime central London.

Many sellers are exploring a sale informally off market, avoiding an online footprint while they test appetite before formally launching next year. We have been approached by numerous potential sellers, keen to understand the market from a buyer's perspective and identify which selling agents may be best placed to discreetly handle their sale.

Nearly 50% of the properties we help clients buy are off market, and buyers are increasingly aware that accessing these is essential to have a true picture of their options. As buying agents, the scale of off market properties, alongside the plethora of known and lesser known selling agents and brokers, means we are having to be even more exhaustive in our approach. Many clients ask how we do this.

This includes personally calling every relevant contact within our longstanding network, searching through archive listings, carefully approaching withdrawn sellers, assessing rental properties where the landlord may prefer a sales offer, and being granted access to industry-only WhatsApp groups and platforms detailing off market listings and connecting us with lesser known independent selling agents. Only at that point are we confident we have considered every option and the very best properties have been shortlisted.

More and more, buyers are recognising that searching themselves is simply not feasible within the current structure of the London property market, if they want true confidence in their choice and decision making.

As one leading Notting Hill sales agent said this week following a flurry of transactions, the two common themes in each of the sales were firstly that the properties were competitively priced, and secondly, that each successful buyer was represented by a buying agent.

Uncharted territory post-Renters’ Rights Act

We’re now one month on from the Renters’ Rights Act (RRA) becoming law, and the restrictions are already being felt in the market by landlords, tenants and prospective buyers.

We are currently advising a buyer considering acquiring an apartment in Little Venice with a tenant in situ. Before the Act came into effect, our client might have considered purchasing the property and being an interim landlord until the tenancy ended.

However, under the new rules, with the absence of a natural end date for tenancies, the need to serve highly specific grounds to end the tenancy and the lack of any legal test cases to rely on, the risk is too great for them to get comfortable with. The transaction will only potentially proceed if the seller can gain vacant possession with the tenant agreeing to sign a deed of surrender.

With landlords, we’re seeing some deliberately price above the Renters’ Rights threshold of £1,923 p/week rent (£100,000 p/year), so that their tenancy will be exempt from the new legislation and fall within the more flexible Common Law.

Tenants are primarily focused on the flexibility that the Act provides through the new Assured Periodic Tenancies (APTs), which have replaced Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs). The most significant changes include APTs now running on a rolling month-to-month basis with no set end date, and tenants being able to leave at any time after the first two months.

We are also seeing higher value tenants reducing their budgets to under £100,000 a year in order to secure a property covered by the Renters’ Rights Act, giving them the flexibility to leave after just two months. One client looking for a rental property in Chiswick is considering doing just this, as he is uncertain which secondary school his son will get into.

Meanwhile, short-term lets, which have traditionally commanded a premium of approximately 30% versus the same property rented on a long-let basis, may become a thing of the past. With tenants now able to serve two months’ notice from day one of a tenancy, every property renting for under £100,000 a year is now effectively a short let.

Investor visa will have minimal impact without tackling IHT

Proposals are being considered for a new three-year, invite-only investor visa for HNWIs investing £5m in the UK’s high-growth businesses, opening a pathway to permanent residency after three years. However, without tackling the inheritance tax issue, such incentives are likely to do little to materially shift long term behaviour among globally mobile investors.

Of our clients who are UHNWs, many have stated that they would gladly pay £500,000 - £1m per year to live in the UK and enjoy the education, culture and lifestyle it offers. Yet they cannot accept their global family wealth becoming subject to UK inheritance tax. In some cases, the wealth has been built up over generations and tied to overseas businesses, which makes the decision less about tolerance levels and instead simply an unviable option.

While an investor visa would certainly be welcome, any significant long-term effect is likely to be limited, unless UK inheritance tax rules are reconsidered alongside it.