October 2026 Sales Market Intelligence Report: Conversion falls to 41.9% as the Scotland-London gap widens to 42.5 points

Key findings from the report include:

• 213,048 new listings across Great Britain (up 14.8% vs August)

• 89,192 sales agreed (down 16.1% vs August)

• 41.9% SSTC conversion rate (down 15.4 percentage points vs August), the lowest reading outside December

• 39.3% of listings currently for sale carry a price reduction, averaging 8.6% off the asking price

• Scotland leads conversion at 69.5%, London records the weakest conversion in Great Britain at 27.0%

• Six of 11 regions above the GB SSTC conversion average, led by Scotland (69.5%), Yorkshire and the Humber (49.9%) and North West (48.7%)
  
  

National SSTC conversion rate falls to 41.9% as new listings rise 14.8%

New listings rose 14.8% to 213,048 in September while sales agreed fell 16.1% to 89,192, pushing the national SSTC conversion rate down 15.4 percentage points to 41.9%. The bigger story is in the shape of that shift: sellers came back after the summer in volume, while buyers did not follow them, leaving 123,856 of September’s new instructions unsold at month end, the widest gap between supply and agreed sales in 12 months.

Conversion held between 50.2% and 58.5% in every month from January to August, so September marks a clear break rather than a seasonal drift, and only December, when the market winds down for Christmas, has come in lower in the past year. Three bed semis were the largest pocket of new stock at 27,098 instructions, while two bed bungalows converted best of any segment at 61.4%, comfortably ahead of every other type and bedroom combination. At the other end, five bedroom and larger detached homes converted at just 31.9%, down from 51.7% in August, even as 36.3% more of them came to market.

For agents, the signal for October is clear. With the average two-year fix at 5.93% and the effective rate on newly drawn mortgages up to 4.60%, buyers bought what they could finance, and larger homes sat. Set the timeline expectation at the instruction rather than after the first quiet month and treat a four or five bedroom vendor’s guide price as the conversation to have on day one.

Regional SSTC conversion rates split sharply as the Scotland-London gap widens to 42.5 points

Scotland and London sit at opposite ends of the regional picture again this month, and the gap between them has widened sharply. Scotland converted 69.5% of new listings, the strongest rate in Great Britain, while London converted just 27.0%, the weakest rate of any region, 42.5 percentage points behind Scotland and up from August’s 34.0 point gap.

Yorkshire and the Humber followed at 49.9%, with the North West close behind at 48.7%. Wales converted at 47.7% and the East Midlands at 46.0%, with the West Midlands rounding out six regions above the 41.9% national average. Every southern region finished below it, with the East of England at 36.8% and the South East at 38.1%. Supply tells a similar story. The South East and London together hold roughly a third of all stock for sale in Great Britain, and with reduction rates of 43.7% and 40.9% respectively, much of that stock still looks overpriced at launch. Scotland’s reduction rate of 22.9% is the lowest in the country, while its unconverted pipeline of just 3,249 homes is the tightest of any region.

For agents working in the South East, the backlog is the number to watch. Its 23,253 unconverted instructions are the largest in Great Britain this month, ahead of London’s 20,868, and its listings rose 27.4% in a single month. That combination of heavy new supply and the highest reduction rate in the country is a signal to set realistic guides at the outset. Scotland shows the opposite case, where the constraint is stock rather than buyers.

Planning applications rise as approval rate ticks up to 86.4%

Planning applications rose 5.1% to 18,856 in September, with approvals up 8.9% to 6,166 and refusals up a smaller 2.9% to 971. Measured against decided applications, the approval rate improved to 86.4%, up from 85.7% in August, as approvals outpaced refusals rather than planners softening.

Applications rose for every property type, by around 7% for houses and around 1% for bungalows and flats, and approval rates improved across all five types. Semi detached schemes held the highest approval rate at 88.6%. Regionally, the South East led volume with 3,906 applications, and only Yorkshire and the Humber and the East of England saw submissions fall. Approval rates still vary widely by postcode: the North West cleared more than nine in ten decided cases at 93.8%, while Wales approved fewer than one in three at 31.4%.

The more useful number this month is what is still waiting. Of September’s 18,856 applications, 11,719 were undecided at month end, 62% of the total, and in Wales nine in ten were still pending. The West Midlands, by contrast, cleared three in four of its caseload within the month. Agents and investors advising developer clients should factor local decision speed into any acquisition timeline this quarter, not just the headline approval rate.

Commenting on the latest report, Matt Gilpin, our Founder and CEO, says:

“September showed how quickly confidence can turn.

Sellers came back after the summer, but many buyers paused as borrowing costs climbed. More homes chasing fewer committed buyers puts the onus on pricing.
Scotland converted almost seven in ten new listings. London converted fewer than three in ten.

The agents who bring that evidence into the valuation will win the instructions that go on to sell.”

The full October 2026 Sales Market Intelligence Report is available now, Sprift customers receive the full report as part of their subscription. If you're not a Sprift customer, you can subscribe to the report below.