Kate Fincham bought her flat in South Norwood for £310,000 on Valentine’s Day in 2018. “I was chuffed because we got it for below the asking price,” says Fincham, who is 41. She bought it with her partner Ibrahim Mustapha, and it was the first home the couple, who met at university, had owned. They loved putting their mark on it; painting the walls and building flat-pack furniture. They chose the up-and-coming area for its train, tram and bus links and because it was close to family.
The couple had two daughters and it wasn’t long before they realised it was time to look for something a bit bigger. “We originally tried to sell in 2023 at £350,000. We had one ridiculously low offer and other than a handful of viewings, nothing, so after nearly six months we took it off the market,” she says.
Fincham, a nurse, and her partner Mustapha, a sports journalist, put the property back on the market a year later, with a different agent and at a lower price. “It took six months to sell and we had to accept a lower offer than we wanted.” The couple completed on the sale in August 2025, after accepting an offer of £298,000. “We were told at the time that there was a lot of uncertainty in the market, especially with first-time buyers who were taking a long time to make decisions due to the higher costs and risks that came with borrowing.”
While the two-bed, first-floor flat came with a shared garden, the couple were told by agents that post-Covid, people were looking for properties with private outside space. Another factor that Fincham believes affected things was that the “promised regeneration of the area had halted due to Covid and issues with Croydon Council’s budget management”.
“It was extremely frustrating as it was a nice flat in a block of four, with a lovely shared garden, with share of freehold, so to sell at a loss was heartbreaking. But we decided we had to accept a lower offer as we had two growing children in a tiny flat.” The impact of this loss was that the couple had to buy a smaller house than they’d planned which needed work but had potential to extend in the future. The couple are pragmatic about their experience. “Now looking back it is what it is. And given the ongoing global instability, cost of living etc., we are grateful we have a house with a lovely garden for the kids. We have potential to extend and grow and put our own mark on the place so it all worked out in the end,” says Fincham. “Of course, it would have been lovely to have made money and bought a bigger house which is what our peers who bought in the preceding Covid years have done.”
‘It would have been lovely to have made money and bought a bigger house which is what our peers have done,’ says FinchamIn May, the lender Halifax reported that the average price of a typical UK home fell by 0.1 per cent to £298,806, which was the third consecutive monthly drop. And research conducted by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) last month found that the South East and South West of England are exhibiting more price negativity, compared to the UK average. Political instability and global conflict mean confidence in the housing market is constantly changing.
Property broker and founder of ML Property Venture Melissa Lewis says selling a property for less than it was bought for is more common than many people think. Obviously, it will depend on the property type and location, but many people who thought investing in property in the last decade or so would be a savvy financial decision haven’t reaped the rewards they expected. Lewis says: “Across most of England, traditional family houses have held up reasonably well. However, leasehold flats, for example in parts of Kent and Essex, have been far more exposed to price falls. I’ve spoken to owners who bought between 2016 and 2022 who are now finding they’re unable to recover their purchase price once selling costs are included.”
There are a multitude of reasons why sellers might be making a loss on their properties in the current market. Economic and employment uncertainty mean the pool of potential buyers is smaller, and those that are looking are taking longer to commit. “Higher mortgage rates have significantly reduced buyer affordability and have changed monthly profit margins for owners,” she adds. Lewis says buyers are also doing more due diligence before signing on the dotted line.
Other contributory factors include fire safety and cladding concerns, which continue to affect blocks of flats and are putting off buyers. And new-build flats which were sold at a premium may not have held their value which means vendors are struggling to justify their asking prices upon resale.
This has been the case for *Sam, 39, who bought his new-build flat in Stockwell, south London, 10 years ago. The one-bed is in a good location for the area’s shops, parks and bars, but every time Sam has put it on the market in the last four years, he’s failed to receive any offers even close to his asking price of £520,000. He rents the flat out, which covers his mortgage, but he has no idea what will happen in the long-term. “When I first bought the flat the value rose quickly but after Covid it really started to stagnate. I think the lack of outside space and the fact that it only has one bedroom made it less appealing to buyers worried about any future lockdown scenarios. Every time I’ve tested it on the market I’ve had to lower the price, but still have had no bites. Meanwhile, the service charge on the block keeps rising.”
Sam, who is an accountant, is now married with two young children and living in a house in Wandsworth. “We’re lucky that our salaries have enabled us to be able to buy our family home but we’d love to make renovations to the house. I don’t think we’re going to be able to do that unless I sell my flat but I’m fully expecting to sell it without making a profit,” he says.
Is property still worth investing in?
While Baby Boomers and older Millennials saw the biggest gains when interest rates were low and house prices were rising rapidly, Lewis believes housing can still create wealth, just not in the same, almost effortless, way it once did. “Future returns are likely to depend much more on buying the right property, in the right location, at the right price, rather than simply buying almost anything because it’s cheap and waiting,” she says.
Claire Sweet, financial adviser and intergenerational wealth strategist at Blueprint Financial Solutions, says: “It’s still possible to make gains in property but this should be a secondary bonus from living in and enjoying your home. I always say buy the worst house in the best street you can afford… you can improve the home but not the area. Be mindful of resell restrictions from the outset. We once bought a great house in an area new to us and didn’t know it backed onto the worst council estate in the town. It took me nearly nine months to sell it when we wanted to move because other people were put off by the area, despite us never having any issues.”
Paul Malone, founder of MovingSoon which is a directory of properties for sale and rent, says: “Stagnating property prices don’t necessarily mean property is no longer a worthwhile investment, but they do change how investors need to think.”
Lewis says while the problem is most prevalent in London flats, “it’s a national picture”. “Many properties around the South have experienced slower growth or price falls, while numerous northern cities and parts of Scotland have remained relatively resilient,” she says. “The market has become increasingly regional, with local supply, affordability and employment playing a much bigger role than national averages.”
Malone says demand for rental properties “remains strong in many parts of the UK, so the overall return will also depend on rental yields, running costs, financing and the long-term investment strategy”. But the introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act, which gives private tenants more protection, has changed what it looks like to be a landlord now. “It’s no longer simply a case of buying a property and expecting strong returns,” says Malone. “Investors need to understand the responsibilities that come with managing a rental property, whether they do that themselves or appoint a letting agent.”
Lewis says the types of homes she has seen holding their value are two- or three-bed freehold family homes, properties with gardens or balconies, properties close to good schools and transport links and homes which are energy efficient or have hi-tech features. And when it comes to choosing an area to buy property in, Lewis recommends looking at places with strong employment growth, cities or towns benefiting from regeneration plans, locations with housing under supply and quality rental markets supported by local demand.
Everyone’s situation is different. From the size of their funds and their long-term objectives, to the level of risk they’re prepared to take. It all depends on the individual investor. But Malone says there’s one thing which applies to everyone: “Careful research and realistic expectations are more important than ever.”
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