The latest house price index and the geopolitical events shaping the housing market feature in this month’s property news headlines. In the meantime, landlords complain about delays in the justice system and a shortage of skilled tradesmen to fit energy-saving measures.
Let’s take a look behind those headlines.
Zoopla March 2026 House Price Index
Although there appear to be fewer buyers in the market than recently, the volume of transactions remains steady, according to the March House Price Index published by the online listings website Zoopla on the 30th of March.
Emerging trends from the current House Price Index suggest that:
- demand has weakened in response to increases of around 0.4 percentage points in mortgage rates and against the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East;
- though there are fewer buyers, Zoopla perceives a significant volume of those with an underlying intent to buy;
- in the past 12 months, house prices have risen by 1.3% to reach an average of £270,500;
- that same average increase is reflected in the price of detached houses, where the average price currently stands at £455,000;
- semi-detached homes saw the biggest increase – of 2.4% – to reach an average price of £279,200;
- terraced homes also did well as the average price rose to £240,200, an annual increase of 2%;
- bucking the trend somewhat, the price of maisonettes and flats fell by 1.1% to reach an average price of £191,800.
Housing market affected as buyer demand falls significantly amid war-related uncertainty
A story in Landlord Today recently echoed Zoopla’s conclusion that demand from buyers has taken a hit due to fears over developments in the Middle East.
As more buyers wait and see whether to proceed with a house purchase, demand has fallen by 13%, compared to 12 months ago, says Landlord Today. The website also recognises the influence on demand of a 0.4 percentage point increase in average mortgage rates.
As a result, enquiries from potential buyers have fallen by between 7% and 19% – varying from one region of the country to another – a dip from a previous peak a year ago.
The apparent drop in demand is nevertheless bolstered by a cohort of committed buyers who continue to press ahead and are armed with mortgage offers already agreed. Thanks to their participation in the market, actual sales have fallen by only 2% during the past 12 months.
Court delays leave landlords waiting over a year for resolution
The property sector’s pressure group Propertymark on the 30th of March, aired grievances from private sector landlords about delays in action before the courts in England and Wales.
The chief gripe is about the time taken to resolve possession proceedings, with delays ultimately resulting in diminished confidence in the sector as a whole.
Since 2019, says Propertymark, the time taken to conclude repossession proceedings has risen from just 20 weeks to the current average of more than 68 weeks. As the delays have fostered uncertainty and confusion, some tenants have stopped paying the rent that is due, and landlords and agents have suffered financial losses.
NRLA calls on Government to address retrofitting skills gap
Another group, the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), on the 27th of March argued that government targets for tightening energy efficiency standards in rental property will be derailed by a shortage of the skilled tradesmen needed to retrofit energy-saving measures.
The NRLA insists that there are insufficient numbers of trained assessors to implement the proposed new Energy Performance of Buildings (EPB) system.
These concerns are voiced against the background of the current consultation process by the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ), which is encouraging landlords and their tenants to better understand the energy efficiency of the let home.
According to the NRLA, concerns about the implementation of new energy efficiency standards have resulted in the delay of their introduction until late next year.
