New data shows the North and Midlands are driving UK property transaction growth
Property transaction volumes across the North of England are rising faster than anywhere else in the country. This is based on new data that points to a broadening shift in where UK homebuying activity is concentrated.
The findings come from Access Legal, part of The Access Group, in its report, The State of the UK Conveyancing Market 2026. The report analysed 15 months of verified HM Land Registry (HMLR) data from April 2025 to June 2026.
Where is UK property transaction growth strongest?
According to the report, Greater London recorded the weakest growth in HMLR dealing application volumes nationally. Figures stood at 21.0% year-on-year for the April-to-June 2026 period compared with the same months in 2025. The North recorded the strongest growth, at 30.1%, followed by the North West at 29.4%. Yorkshire and the Humber grew by 27.2%, and the West Midlands by 27.8%.
The shift is largely attributed to Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) threshold changes introduced in April 2025. These lowered the nil-rate threshold to £125,000, disproportionately affecting higher-value transactions concentrated in the South.
How has the north-south house price gap changed?
That regional rebalancing is echoed in wider house price data. Nationwide Building Society reported this month that the gap between average house prices in the North and South of England had narrowed to its lowest level in 13 years. London recorded the weakest regional price growth in the first nine months of 2026, averaging 1.3%.
Nationwide found that the average price of a home in northern England now sits at almost 58% of the average price in the South. These figures are up from a low of roughly 48% in 2017, and consistent with those in the Access Legal report.
Remortgage activity and conveyancing capacity
Access Legal's full report situates the regional shift within a broader recovery in transaction activity. Its data shows 1.09 million transactions completed across FY25/26, the highest annual total in recent years. This was driven by a sustained remortgage wave as 1.8 million fixed-rate deals matured over the period, reaching a two-year high in August 2026.
That remortgage wave has coincided with a squeeze on conveyancing capacity nationally. Separate research from IRN Legal Reports found that the number of solicitors practising in residential conveyancing had fallen to 10,724 by January 2026. This translates to a drop of more than 2,000 since the end of 2021, even as transaction volumes grew for a second consecutive year. Average transaction times across the market reached 123 days to completion, according to Access Legal's report.
What the regional shift means for brokers
Andrew Stevens, general manager at Access Legal, said the property market was "expanding far beyond London," and that this regional growth was now "driving national DLG volumes."
"The reversion of the SDLT threshold in April 2025 created a clear dividing line, where the more affordable regional markets have recovered fastest," Stevens said. "What is particularly interesting is how this impacts conveyancers. Homebuyers in these booming regional markets are actively seeking out legal teams that are rooted in their own communities."
For mortgage brokers, the data points to shifting geographic demand: as transaction growth concentrates in the Northwest, Yorkshire and the Midlands, client volumes tied to those regions are rising relative to London and the South. Longer completion times may also require closer coordination between brokers and conveyancing partners to manage cases through to completion.
The rate backdrop adds further context for brokers monitoring client refinancing needs. Following the Bank of England's decision to hold the base rate at 3.75%, brokers may continue to see churn among clients whose fixed terms are maturing. This holds true particularly in regions where transaction growth is strongest.
