Countrywide says in its third quarter trading statement that changes to Stamp Duty and the EU referendum have ‘significantly’ reduced transaction levels and it now expects the number of homes it sells this year to be down 6% overall compared to 2015.

The company says the additional Stamp Duty tax levied on landlords who purchase property and the uncertainty created by the referendum also helped reduce its revenue by 4.3% for the three months ending September 30th when compared to last year, from £197.1m to £188.5m.

But it’s not all gloom; the number of homes it sold during the quarter only reduced by 1%, and year- on-ear the number of sales remains up by 7% although in London, like many other agents, Countrywide’s figures are brutal. Sales in the capital were down 29% during the quarter when compared to last year and down 11% overall.

Countrywide’s lettings business proved a much happier place. It had 14% more properties under management compared to the same quarter last year after it focussed on landlord retention as a key initiative.

The company’s mortgage business is also doing well; it arranged 19% more loans during the quarter than in 2015 and 30% more year on year.

“As well as further strengthening our position as the UK’s largest single mortgage broker, we have been focused on improving our retention rate on existing customers whose fixed term deal has come to an end,” the report says.

CEO Alison Platt (pictured) says: “We have made good progress this year despite tough market conditions since the EU referendum, particularly pleasing is our growth in market share in both sales and lettings based on available market data up to July.”