Fall-through rates – the percentage of agreed transactions that later fail to complete – have edged down despite global turmoil.
Figures from TwentyCI revealed that the fall-through rate dropped from 24% in Q1 25 to 23.7% in Q1 26, a modest but meaningful 0.3% percentage-point decline.
This represents a 1.3% decrease in the fall-through rate relative to the previous year, with declined in 10 out of 13 regions.
TwentyCi measured the fall-through rate as the percentage of concluded listings with a sale agreed that failed to complete.
Northern Ireland’s transactions posted the sharpest improvement at -11.1%, followed by Scotland at -6.3% and Wales at -5.7%. However, the clear outlier in the data was Inner London, where the fall-through rate rose from 24.6% to 27.0%, a 9.7% year-on-year increase.
More than one in four agreed sales in central London collapsed before exchange.
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Outside London, commitment holds firm
Stuart Ducker, strategic solutions director at TwentyCi, said that while the decline is modest, it was “still meaningful for agents operating in a challenging market”.
“In absolute terms, fall-throughs dropped by 12.1%, from 76,814 in Q1 2025 to 67,489 this year,” he added.
“For agents operating in a market shaped by stamp duty changes, mansion tax uncertainty and persistently high mortgage rates, the figures suggest that buyer commitment is holding firm outside the South East.”
“However, volumes only tell part of the story, which is why looking at fall-through rates provides a clearer view of underlying market stability. The regional variation is also notable, with some areas seeing significantly stronger improvements than others.”
Ducker noted that the figures took in the period during which a Mansion Tax was proposed, which is likely to have weighed on buyer confidence in the capital in particular, explaining the high failure rate on transactions.
Supply rises
The figures show that new property listings have continued to rise in 2026, building on the record highs seen last year. Supply is up 5.1% year-on-year, with increases recorded across all price bands and in most UK regions.
Supply in the South East grew fastest, up 8.9% year-on-year
Growth has been strongest at the lower end of the market, with listings for homes priced between £0 and £200,000 up 6.1%, followed by a 5.2% increase in the £200,000 to £350,000 bracket.