Ranked: London boroughs where the most homes were sold last year
The proportion of homes sold in London was lower than any other part of England and Wales last year, according to analysis of Land Registry data by property group Knight Frank.
In total, 3.2 per cent of all private London residential properties were sold in 2017, well below the average of 4.1 per cent for England and Wales.
The analysis, which focuses on privately-owned homes, means that on a street of 100 properties, an average of just over 3 were sold in London last year.
The London figure marked a decline from 3.6 per cent in 2016 while the average for England and Wales was down from 0.2 points from the previous year.
The borough of Havering had the highest proportion of sales at 4.06 per cent, followed by Bexley at 4.02 per cent and then Barking and Dagenham with 3.96 per cent.
Brent had the lowest percentage of houses sold at 2.15 per cent, a fraction lower than the 2.46 recorded in Harrow.
| Rank | Borough | Proportion of homes sold in 2017 |
| 1 | Havering | 4.06 per cent |
| 2 | Bexley | 4.02 per cent |
| 3 | Barking and Dagenham | 3.96 per cent |
| 4 | Bromley | 3.96 per cent |
| 5 | Lambeth | 3.8 per cent |
| 6 | Greenwich | 3.78 per cent |
| 7 | Hackney | 3.65 per cent |
| 8 | Lewisham | 3.61 per cent |
| 9 | Croydon | 3.54 per cent |
| 10 | Kingston upon Thames | 3.42 per cent |
The ten boroughs that recorded the largest declines in 2017 compared to the long-run average were all in inner London: Camden, Hammersmith and Fulham, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth, and Westminster.
Meanwhile, the most resilient borough was Havering, which was only 0.3 percentage points below its long-run average in 2017.
According to Knight Frank, London’s soaring house prices are partially responsible for the low volume in sales: average prices in London were 59 per cent above the pre-financial crisis peak in February 2018, compared to 18 per cent in the west midlands.
Tom Bill, head of London residential research at Knight Frank said: “The clear message is that relatively high house prices in the capital are a contributory factor to the slower rate of sales.”
Meanwhile, Wales saw the highest proportion of homes sold with 4.8 per cent of all properties transacted in 2017.
“Higher rates of stamp duty have clearly also played their part in curbing transactions in the capital,” said Bill.
“Add a dose of political uncertainty into the mix and the result is a residential property market that is being kept in check to some extent, despite low interest rates and high levels of employment.”