Homes in roughly half of Great Britain's local authorities are taking longer to sell than they did a year ago, as unsettled mortgage pricing tied to the Iran conflict pushes buyers to hold out for cheaper deals, according to a report from property platform Zoopla. The national average time to sell a home has stayed steady at 42 days, but the report found that 180 of 363 local authorities across England and Wales are now seeing slower sales than in the previous year.
Zoopla's data shows that a widening gap has opened between fast-moving hotspots and stagnant markets, even though the overall national figure looks unchanged. Buyers in stronger markets are rushing to close deals quickly, while those elsewhere are adopting a more cautious, wait-and-see approach as mortgage costs fluctuate.
Where are homes selling fastest?
Scotland dominates the list of quickest-selling markets, with all ten of the fastest local authorities located north of the border. Falkirk topped the table with an average time to sell of just 11 days. In England, Carlisle and Barnsley were the speediest markets, each averaging 23 days to complete a sale.
Where are sales dragging on the longest?
Eight local authorities recorded average selling times of two months or more. Melton in the East Midlands was slowest overall at 76 days, followed by Westminster in London and Teignbridge in the south-west.
This divide builds on patterns Zoopla flagged earlier in the year. The platform reported in April 2026 that homes were taking just one day longer to sell on average than twelve months prior, with the slowdown concentrated mainly in London and southern England — a geographic pattern that closely echoes the current findings. Separately, Zoopla noted in April 2026 that the average UK home was taking 185 days to sell when measured from initial listing through to full completion, a figure that captures the entire sales process rather than just the period the report highlights.
Why is the mortgage market so unsettled?
The Iran conflict has repeatedly rattled financial markets since it began, feeding through into higher borrowing costs for home loans as lenders responded to fears of renewed inflationary pressure. Moneyfacts figures show the average two-year fixed residential mortgage rate stood at 5.61% on Monday, well above the 4.83% rate recorded before the conflict erupted at the end of February. Rates peaked at nearly 6% in April before easing slightly.
This volatility follows a period in which typical mortgage costs rose by £788 a year compared with pre-conflict levels, and comes after three in five homes went unsold since January as elevated rates weighed on buyer demand. It also follows a spell in which UK house prices stalled for a second consecutive month in June, with estate agents warning of a broader summer slowdown even as annual price growth held positive.
More recent figures suggest the volatility has not eased. According to Moneyfacts, the average new mortgage rate had climbed back to 5.59% by the start of August 2026, after a July rise wiped out earlier improvements, with the average two-year and five-year fixed rates rising month-on-month to 5.52% and 5.66% respectively. Separately, Forbes Advisor UK cited Moneyfacts data showing the average standard variable rate reached 7.13% on 14 August 2026.
Will the Bank of England step in?
Officials had been weighing whether rising inflation would force a rate rise, but the situation has since become clearer. UK Finance reported that the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee held Bank Rate at 3.75% again at its August 2026 review, holding steady rather than moving in either direction. Financial markets had previously anticipated two quarter-point increases to the base rate before the end of next year.
Richard Donnell, an executive director at Zoopla, summed up the underlying picture:
While the national time to sell has barely moved, that stability is masking a real divide opening up between local markets.
What happens next?
UK inflation figures for July 2026 were scheduled for release, having previously been expected to show a rise from 2.6% in June to 2.9%. Separate labour market data due around the same time was expected to show a slowdown in hiring, a factor that could weigh against any move by the Bank of England to tighten policy despite inflationary pressure. This backdrop follows a period in which UK house prices stayed flat through June amid rising energy bills, with Northern Ireland the notable exception showing strong growth, and some analysts still holding out hope that falling mortgage rates could support a recovery later in the year.
Key Facts
- Homes in 180 of 363 local authorities in England and Wales are taking longer to sell than a year earlier, Zoopla found.
- The national average time to sell remains at 42 days, but Falkirk in Scotland leads at just 11 days while Melton in the East Midlands lags at 76 days.
- The average two-year fixed mortgage rate stood at 5.61% on Monday, up from 4.83% before the Iran conflict began, and Moneyfacts later put the average new mortgage rate at 5.59% by early August 2026.
- The Bank of England held Bank Rate at 3.75% in its August 2026 review, according to UK Finance.
- The average standard variable mortgage rate reached 7.13% on 14 August 2026, per Moneyfacts data cited by Forbes Advisor UK.
