This marks the first month-on-month decrease since May 2023.

Commenting on the HMRC data, Terry Woodley, managing director of development finance at Shawbrook, said the economic headwinds and the impact of high interest rates contributed to the decrease in property transactions.

“Rising costs will continue to be a hurdle for developers, with two in five stating this as their main concern, according to our latest research,” he added.

“As a result, 96% have had to make changes to their business strategy over the past year — developers will be looking to complete projects quickly to mitigate the effects of increased costs and declining demand.”

Jason Tebb, CEO at OnTheMarket.com, also commented: "Despite challenging market conditions, there hasn’t been a drastic fall-off in transactions, which are regarded as a more useful indicator of the health of the housing market than property prices.

•   B&C Awards 2023: The Video
•   Q3 sees record-breaking online auction sales despite challenging market conditions
•   MT Finance secures new £500m funding line from JP Morgan

“Numerous interest rate rises have undoubtedly had an impact on activity, fuelling borrower concerns around affordability. 

“If the Bank of England holds the base rate for the second consecutive meeting, this will give buyer confidence a much-needed boost, particularly as mortgage rates continue to edge downwards.

“While there are motivated buyers out there, they are extremely price-sensitive, so sellers must price accordingly if they wish to transact this side of Christmas."

Joshua Elash, director at MT Finance, stated: “Transactional activity in the residential sector is down and this is consistent with what we are seeing on the ground — would-be homeowners continue to be put off by uncertain market conditions and a higher interest rate environment.

“The smart investment money seems to be sat in the non-residential space, where transactional activity is up and where opportunities to acquire assets at a good yield create an offset against the higher interest rates borrowers are now having to get accustomed to paying.”