House sales have slumped this year – or have they?

The number of house sales in England has dropped by 12% compared to a year ago, according to latest figures from the government’s statisticians, the ONS. The figures are for August and are based in part on the latest set of sales results to be released by the Land Registry. The data also reveals that the number of homes sold dropped elsewhere too – by 15.8% in London and by 3.4% in Wales, both by the same measure. But the house sales report is entirely contradicted by figures from HMRC which reveal it believes that the number of homes sold in the UK increased by 9.2% during the year to October 2017, and by 1.7% over the past month. We spoke to the Land Registry, who were unable to explain the difference between the two house sales numbers and, we are told, neither is the ONS. So baffling is the difference between the HMRC data, which is based on Stamp Duty receipts, and the Land Registry data, that the Negotiator has been told analysts at Savills have spent a lot of time and energy on finding out why. “I would back the ONS figures every time because they are the…

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