Property ‘flipping’ hits 12-year low as charges and tax changes hit market

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The variety of properties “flipped” in England and Wales hit a file 12 12 months low, as rising stamp obligation prices worn out traders’ income, new evaluation confirmed.

Flipped properties — houses purchased, then re-sold inside a 12 months — accounted for simply 2.3 per cent of all residential property transactions within the first monetary quarter of 2025, down from 3.6 per cent the earlier 12 months, in accordance with analysis from property agent Hamptons.

This was the bottom proportion since 2013, the place flipped properties additionally accounted for two.3 per cent of transactions, because the housing market suffered from the lingering results of the 2008 monetary disaster.

Traders who flip properties intention to make a revenue usually from renovating the property they’ve purchased and promoting it a better value.

Nevertheless, the common gross revenue made by an investor additionally fell, in accordance with Hamptons’ knowledge, declining from 17 per cent within the first quarter of 2015 to 10 per cent in 2025, attributable to weaker home value development and a shift in direction of flipping cheaper properties.

This sharp drop in investor income may be accredited to adjustments in laws inflicting stamp obligation payments on flipped houses to rise to a mean of £6,375 on preliminary purchases in the course of the first quarter.

Stamp obligation land tax (SDLT) payments now value the common individual flipping a house in England and Wales a file 30 per cent of their gross revenue, averaging at £11,920 in accordance with Hamptons.

“Larger stamp obligation payments are wiping out quite a lot of revenue from flipping,” mentioned Aneisha Beveridge, head of analysis at Hamptons. “Stamp obligation payments now account for practically a 3rd of gross income.”

Beveridge added in some circumstances that “payments are actually greater than the price of renovating the property” and paired with rising materials and labour prices could make “flipping houses an more and more tough enterprise”.

Based on tradesperson platform Checkatrade, the common value of renovating a property is £76,690, together with new fuel and heating methods, rewiring electrics and replastering partitions.

Matt Thompson, head of gross sales at property agent Chestertons, voiced related considerations: “Plenty of traders who concentrate on flipping property have discovered that their return on funding has decreased over the previous years.

“Key elements will not be solely greater property costs in sought-after or up and coming areas but in addition greater labour and development materials prices.”

Decrease returns, predominantly attributable to greater stamp obligation prices, in the end decreased the variety of worthwhile flipped properties. Regardless of 80 per cent of properties being bought for greater than they have been purchased, solely 66 per cent made a revenue following the cost of stamp obligation.

Simply 7,301 flipped houses have been bought within the first quarter, practically 30 per cent beneath the 10-year first-quarter common.

“It [second home stamp duty surcharge] has multiplied prices for these people who find themselves refurbishing houses to a degree that’s more and more unviable,” added Beveridge.

“These are sometimes empty houses . . . and are usually tasks which most first-time patrons and movers have shied away from.”

Rising prices have “pushed traders additional north”, the place property costs and subsequently stamp obligation prices are decrease, with 61 per cent of flipped properties being within the Midlands, north of England or Wales.

In distinction, the costly southern area skilled the largest declines within the share of flipped houses, with simply 1.5 per cent of houses being bought this 12 months in London being purchased up to now 12 months.