Property businesses are going bust at the fastest rate in a decade, with more than 760 companies becoming insolvent so far this year in a sign of mounting pressure across the property sector.

Analysis by City AM of insolvency filings published in the London Gazette found that the total is more than 60% higher than a year earlier, and almost three times the 264 insolvencies recorded during the same period in 2017.

The sector’s figures include estate agencies, property management companies and landowners, as well as other real estate-related businesses.

They come at a time of economic uncertainty and growing concerns about housing market activity and higher borrowing costs.

Property businesses are often the canary in the coal mine.”

Dominic Curran, Head of Communications at Real Estate UK, told City AM that property businesses are often the “canary in the coal mine” for wider economic conditions.

He said: “A combination of high finance costs, economic and political uncertainty and a sluggish regulator means that construction just isn’t viable in much of the country.”

Curran adds: “We need a healthy and competitive real estate industry ready for when the upturn inevitably comes, and we have the actual development capacity to deliver the homes and economic infrastructure the UK desperately needs.”

Economic uncertainty

Propertymark also expressed concern about the rise in insolvencies. Chief Executive Nathan Emerson said: “These figures should be viewed in the context of wider economic pressures affecting businesses across many sectors.”

He adds that property companies continue to face rising operational costs, regulatory demands and economic uncertainty, although he also says the market has remained “relatively resilient”.