London lags behind as stock for sale increases across the UK

An assessment of new stock on sale through agents in February suggests a monthly rise in supply of 13.3 per cent across much of the UK - but with London lagging well behind.

An analysis by HouseSimple, based on 500,000 homes listed for sale in 100 towns and cities, suggests a UK-wide 13.3 per cent rise in stock in February compared to January. 

The increase was seen in the vast majority of locations; in Warwick, the number of new listings rose 76.2 per cent, while in Edinburgh and Carlisle property listings were up 59.7 per cent and 54.6 per cent respectively.  

However, some parts of the country did see property supply fall last month. In Bootle, for example, the number of new property listings fell 12.6 per cent while Guildford and Salford saw supply drop 12.4 per cent and 8.5 per cent respectively.

In London, supply was up just 4.7 per cent in February, less than half that across the whole of the UK, although some areas of the capital did see some sizeable rises in listings. For example, Kensington and Chelsea experienced an uplift of 23.1 per cent, while Lambeth saw property supply increase 20.4 per cent last month.

“What’s more encouraging is that new stock levels are higher than October 2016 and only slightly short of September 2016, both traditionally strong months for the property market" says a HouseSimple spokesman.