The performance in April was even worse, with a 30% drop in sales, shows the latest HMRC provisional estimates for UK residential property transactions for April 2023, which ‘paint a bleak picture for the UK property market’, says tax and advisory firm Blick Rothenberg.

In April, total transactions in England and Scotland fell to 67,220 from 95,000 the previous month and were the lowest since the height of the first pandemic lockdown when 46,160 sales were recorded and most activity stopped as estate agents were closed.