Housing supply falls in over half of UK towns

The towns and cities that saw the biggest falls in supply were Southport and Loughborough, where the supply of new property listings fell 28% and 24.1% respectively. Of the areas that saw the biggest falls in supply, just under half (47%) were in the North of England.

Conversely, Lichfield in the West Midlands experienced a massive 55.8% rise in new property listings in May compared to April, while Chesterfield and Rugby saw 35.7% and 32.5% respective rises in the same period. Of the areas that saw the biggest increases in supply, a third were in the Midlands.

Despite an overall fall in the capital’s supply, 53% of London’s 32 boroughs saw an increase in supply last month. Waltham Forest saw property supply rise 31% month on month following an 8% increase in April – and Merton saw supply increase 30% in May following a 15% increase in April.

Alex Gosling, CEO of House Simple, commented: “Although property supply was up in May, in large swathes of the country, the number of new properties listed fell.

“Could this be due to the Brexit effect? The scare tactics on both sides of the EU referendum debate are likely to be chipping away at the confidence of buyers and sellers. And with the Brexit vote less than three weeks away, we could well see a significant drop off in activity at a time when historically there is a lot of activity in the property market.

“On the flip side, this could actually provide an opportunity for prospective buyers, who have their finance in place and can move fast, as they may be able to negotiate a good deal with motivated sellers keen to tie up a sale before 23rd June.”