Selling in Surrey and Berkshire: Why 44% of South East Homes Don’t Find a Buyer

📊 MARKET INSIGHT · 13 October 2026 · 6 min read · Hiten Arya, Director

Sellers across Guildford, Woking, Esher, Windsor, Ascot, Maidenhead and Reading are being told the autumn market has “picked up”. The headline numbers say something more careful. Rightmove’s September data shows asking prices rising for the first time since May, but the company itself calls it “a modest recovery rather than a major turning point”. For anyone selling a Surrey or Berkshire home this autumn, the detail matters far more than the headline.

What the latest data says about the South East

Rightmove’s September 2026 figures put the average asking price in the South East at £471,138, up 0.3% on the month but down 1.8% on a year ago. The average time to find a buyer in the region is 72 days, against 64 days nationally.

The more telling number is the proportion of homes that find a buyer at all. In the South East, 56% of homes coming to market find a buyer, compared with 61% nationally and 74% in 2021. Put differently, close to half of South East homes that are listed do not sell on that attempt.

Behind this sits a supply problem. Homes for sale are at a 12-year high, buyer enquiries are down 9% year on year and agreed sales are down 9%. Rightmove also reports that the average two-year fixed mortgage rate has risen from 5.09% to 5.29%, adding roughly £180 a month to a typical new mortgage. Buyers have more choice, less urgency and less borrowing headroom.

Please note that these are regional figures for the South East as a whole; they are not Surrey-only or Berkshire-only numbers.

Surrey: a steady market, not a rising one

Land Registry data, as compiled by Plumplot for September 2025 to August 2026, puts the average Surrey sale price at around £600,000 and the median at £495,000, with prices about 2% lower than a year earlier. That is hardly a collapse. It does mean the era of any well-presented Surrey home attracting multiple offers in a weekend is over.

The consequence for sellers in Weybridge, Cobham, Epsom, Reigate, Dorking or Farnham is that realistic pricing now decides the outcome. Rightmove reports that 74% of homes sold this year were priced correctly from the start and never needed a reduction. The homes that stall are overwhelmingly the ones that began with an optimistic number and chased the market down.

Berkshire: where the commuter buyer decides

Berkshire sellers, from Windsor, Maidenhead and Ascot to Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell and Newbury, rely heavily on commuter and relocating buyers. These buyers are exactly the group most exposed to mortgage-rate volatility, because their purchase depends on a lender’s affordability assessment. When rates move, a buyer’s ceiling moves with them, and an agreed sale can unwind before exchange.

That is why the quality of the buyer matters as much as the headline offer. A proceedable buyer at a slightly lower figure is frequently worth more than a higher offer that depends on a chain, a mortgage valuation or a sale that has yet to be agreed.

The 28 October Budget

The Budget is on 28 October. Nothing has been confirmed on residential capital gains tax, which is currently charged at 18% for basic-rate and 24% for higher and additional-rate taxpayers, though the HomeOwners Alliance reports that the Treasury is modelling options including bringing CGT closer to income tax rates. Stamp duty reform has been ruled out for now. These are predictions rather than policy.

Owners of second homes, investment properties and HMOs, who are the sellers most exposed to any CGT change, should take advice from their accountant now rather than after the announcement. A sale takes months to complete, so the decision should be made on facts, not fear.

When a discreet off-market sale makes sense

When roughly four in ten South East listings do not find a buyer, a failed public campaign is a real cost. A property that sits on Rightmove for months acquires a history that buyers read as weakness, and it signals that the seller will eventually accept less.

An off-market sale avoids that. At London Property Brokerage, I introduce suitable properties directly to a qualified network of investors and private buyers, with no portal listing, no board and no viewings by the curious. It suits executives who want privacy, owners of larger family homes in Surrey and Berkshire, and landlords who would rather not advertise a sale to tenants. It is not right for every property, and I will tell you plainly when an open-market campaign will serve you better.

Selling an HMO in Surrey or Berkshire

HMO owners face their own pressures: licensing costs, tighter lender underwriting and Article 4 restrictions in some areas. Because HMO value rests on licensing, compliance and the income it produces, these properties are best sold to buyers who understand them. We act for HMO owners who want to sell, on the open market or privately, and we speak to investor buyers who value a clean compliance file.

What to do next

If you own in Surrey, Berkshire or elsewhere around the M25 and are considering a sale, three steps will improve your position: obtain an honest, evidence-based valuation; decide in advance whether privacy matters more to you than maximum exposure; and take tax advice before the Budget on 28 October.

For over 40 years I have advised on property purchases and sales, and I remain directly involved in every instruction. I don’t make excuses. I make results.

Sources: Property Industry Eye (21 September 2026) reporting Rightmove’s September data; Rightmove House Price Index; Plumplot (HM Land Registry data); HomeOwners Alliance, “Autumn Budget Predictions 2026”. This article is general information, not tax or financial advice.