Pricey properties in the UK’s green and pleasant countryside are selling more than this time last year in a welcome boost for the housing market, according to new figures. Owners of country houses worth more than £750,000 are finding buyers at a rate 7% higher this June than compared to the same month in 2024.
However, estate agency Knight Frank reported the hike in house sales among the hedgerows was also marked by sellers having to reduce their asking price. It’s understood the new spike in property sales has been driven in part by second-home buyers who have faced tough new council tax penalties from rural authorities looking to level the housing market playing field for local people unable to afford a home. In some parts of Wales councils have quadrupled levies on additional properties, and in England councils in places like Cornwall and Yorkshire have been given the power to double tax bills.
The Guardian,reports the overall number of country houses coming onto the market has been 9% higher in April, May and June compared to the same period last year.
James Cleland, the head of the country business at Knight Frank, said: “Prices are correcting and as a result activity is noticeably picking up.
“June was busy, and a number of deals were agreed in all price brackets, which means the next few months look even better for exchanges. It’s all about pricing. If you get it right, buyers pounce but if you get it wrong, not a lot happens.”
In Cornwall, the average house price of a detached property with five bedrooms was £976,000, and in North Yorkshire the same spec home would set someone back on average £700,000, according to property site, GetAgent.co.uk.
The rural housing market underwent a boom during the Covid pandemic when many buyers, given the chance by their employers to work remotely, opted for a place outside of the city.
But since the spike starting around five years ago house prices have since fallen. The estate agent’s price index says in the three months leading up to June this year, the average price of a rural home fell by 3.5%.