Charlie's 5 Fact Friday Newsletter

The five facts hitting housing hardest in the last 7 days - 12 September 2025

Author

Charlie Lamdin
September 12, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 13 minutes

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5 Fact Friday

The latest insider intel on UK housing market from Charlie Lamdin

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Hi reader! Thank you for subscribing to my newsletter.

Welcome to your weekly briefing on important things affecting the housing market.

As a subscriber, the facts hit your inbox first. BUT it is always worth tuning into the live stream, as there may be a couple of last-minute additions. Find the live stream here:

Remember: If you’ve recently rented, bought or sold a home, please report your price to the BestAgent Public House Price Index.

This week’s top 5 housing market facts:

  1. Media parrots “record house prices” guff from Halifax.
    https://x.com/moving_charlie/status/1963899295725211673

  2. Budget Property Tax Measures likely to include scrapping Stamp Duty below £500,000 and a new annual tax above £500,000. https://www.ukonward.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Onward-A-Fairer-Property-Tax.pdf

  3. Rayner the Blamer resigns as Housing Secretary, replaced by Steve Reed https://x.com/moving_charlie/status/1963927903164592466 https://thenegotiator.co.uk/news/uk-housing-market-news/new-housing-secretary-to-build-baby-build-but-who-is-he/

  4. Reeves’ teases puts Housing Market on standby until after budget https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/property/house-prices/property-market-on-life-support-as-labour-stokes-tax-fears/

  5. RICS August Survey shows housing market grinding to a halt and rental supply at lowest levels in years https://www.rics.org/content/dam/ricsglobal/documents/market-surveys/uk-residential-market-survey/8_WEB_August_2025_RICS_UK_Residential_Market_Survey_tp.pdf

  6. Bonus, delayed fact: Keir Starmer has already abandoned the 1.5m homes target, calling it “too ambitious” https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/starmer-defends-too-ambitious-15m-homes-target/5133186.article

Charlie's Thought of the Week:

In case you missed anything this week…

How do search packs “derail” house buying? Live Q&A

Most viewed post this week on X:

Most viewed video this week on TikTok:

@movinghomewithcharlie

Why Do Property Exchanges Take So Long?

Thought of the week - 12 September 2026

Uncertainty abounds. Disregard, move on.

As I write this in September 2025, I can’t remember a time in my life when there was a bigger list of uncertainties affecting daily life and life plans, especially moving plans.

Debate rages about whether or not this is intentional, or incompetence, but either way the list is long:

  1. Will there be new property taxes, and if so will they affect our plans and finances, and by how much?

  2. How long will this government be in power, because it looks impossible they’ll last full term.

  3. When will the next election be and what’s going to happen, and how will it affect us?

  4. Is there going to be another global financial crash, or is it all clickbait?

  5. Is AI really going to take my job, or is that more scaremongering? What can we do if it does?

  6. Does all this uncertainty mean we should hurry up and buy a home, so we have somewhere to ride out the storm, or put our buying plans on hold, in case it’s a mistake?

  7. Is my employer going to stay in business? If not, do I wait for the collapse or do I jump first?

  8. What happens if I can’t afford the new tax regime, and I’m forced to sell, just as the housing market crashes? Will I lose my home? Then what?

  9. Is there going to be a wider war in Europe, or will Ukraine and Russia have a ceasefire? Are our kids going to get signed up to fight?

  10. If house prices are going to crash, should we wait, and ride it out long term, or should we sell before it happens? But where do we go?

  11. The renters rights bill is going to change the rental market. What’s my landlord going to do, and will they give me enough notice to find a new home?

  12. Is inflation going to stay high, and can I afford my plans, or do we have to rebudget?

  13. Do we have enough equity in our home to be able to downsize, retire, and help the kids out, as we planned, or has that ship sailed? If so, what do we do?

  14. Taxes are already astronomical. If they go up even more, should we stay or leave the country? Where would we go?

  15. We really want to own our home so we’re not at the mercy of landlords, but we’re scared to buy in case its a mistake, and we can’t trust advice because everyone’s trying to sell us something.

  16. Politics, jobs, interest rates, the economy, population growth - we just want to get on with our lives in peace, can we still do that?

As ever, this is just a brain dump of my thoughts.

Britain is in the most uncertain period I’ve ever known in my 53 years here, and on top of all the existing pressures, it’s making everything even harder to decide what to do.

My approach has always been, if I’m not sure what to do, don’t do anything until I am sure. But when a decision is unavoidable, don’t delay, and choose the option which would be the easier mistake to live with if it’s the wrong one.

Unless it’s a “hell yes” it’s always a no.

If in doubt, pull out.

But above all, I think that if home ownership is something you desire and is within your grasp, without overstretching, then in times of uncertainty, on balance, it’s better to be in a home you own, than not.

So, if that’s you, keep on getting out and viewing. Have your ducks in a row, and always make your offer.

If selling is something you have little choice over, choose your agent SO carefully. Don’t overprice. Get multiple viewings, so you get whatever the market will pay, and move on.

It’s about the move, not the money.

Have a great weekend and remember, the sun always comes up tomorrow!

That’s all for this week!

Thank you so much for subscribing. Please do give me any feedback you have by replying to this email.

Have a great weekend, lots of love and luck to you all.

Charlie

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