Report and Podcast overview

The LonRes Prime London Market Update for Spring 2026 is now available. This latest edition brings together LonRes data up to the end of March 2026, exploring how the prime London sales and lettings markets performed in Q1 and what agents expect for the rest of the year.

Alongside a comprehensive overview of market activity, this edition includes the LonRes Agent Survey Spring 2026 — carried out between 24 March and 17 April with more than 450 responses — providing a detailed snapshot of sentiment from agents active across prime London.

Sales market

• Sales volumes across prime London fell sharply in Q1, with transactions down 32.6% year-on-year and 12.0% below the 2017–2019 first quarter average. In the £5m+ market, volumes were 27.8% lower year-on-year, though still 3.7% ahead of the longer-term average.
• Stock levels remain elevated, with 13.8% more homes on the market across prime London at the end of March than a year earlier, and 7.2% more £5m+ stock available. New instructions rose 2.7% across all properties, though £5m+ instructions fell 6.0%.
• Price pressures intensified, with the LonRes Prime London Sales Index recording an annual fall of 7.0% in prime central London and 5.0% across the wider prime London market. Average discounts from asking price reached 10.5% for prime London and 14.2% for PCL — both substantially above long-term averages. Over the past decade, values have fallen 12.3% across prime London as a whole, with PCL down 15.2%.
• Despite weak transaction figures, under offers in Q1 rose 7.6% year-on-year for the whole market and 7.3% in the £5m+ sector — a more positive signal, with Q1 2026 under offer numbers 35% above the long-term pre-pandemic average.
• Agent sentiment is cautiously optimistic: 48% of survey respondents forecast higher transaction levels for 2026 compared to 2025, against 23% expecting them to end the year lower. On prices, the majority expect a modest further fall of 1–5% for the full year.

Lettings market

• Rental growth returned to the prime London lettings market in Q1 after two softer quarters. The LonRes Rental Index recorded 2.0% annual growth across prime London and 2.6% in prime central London, though the pace remains well below the peaks seen in 2021–2023. Average rents remain more than 30% above pre-pandemic levels.
• Yields continued to rise, with the average yield across prime London reaching 4.96% in Q1, up from 4.74% in Q4 2025 and significantly above the 2013–2020 average of around 3.5%.
• Lettings activity data shows instructions up 40.8% and agreed lets up 32.4% year-on-year in Q1, though both metrics remain around 50% below pre-pandemic levels. Agents caution that the listings data may overstate true availability.
• The imminent Renters’ Rights Act — coming into force in May — is a major theme in this edition. Survey responses point to a strong consensus that the legislation will reduce rental supply as landlords exit the market, while creating stronger competition among tenants and pushing asking rents higher, despite the reforms being broadly favourable to tenants on paper.
• Agent forecasts for the lettings market are broadly flat: 84% expect transaction levels to be similar to 2025, with a slight bias towards a marginal decline. On rents, 61% expect growth in 2026, with a 1–5% rise the most popular forecast.

Download the full Prime London Market Update for Spring 2026 and listen to the AI podcast version below.