Almost 300 estate agents have gone bust over the past year as Britain's housing market has struggled following a jump in borrowing costs.
Some 286 estate agency firms went bust over the 12 months to July, according to the Insolvency Service, an increase of 32% from a year earlier.
This coincided with a 12% drop in house sales during the year to June to a decade-low of 861,210, HMRC figures show, which has weighed on estate agents’ incomes.
Hiked interest rates have hit the sector recently with the base rate rising to 5.25%, before being cut by the Bank of England last month, or the highest borrowing costs in 15 years.
The figures reflect ongoing tough conditions in the housing market since Liz Truss’ mini-budget in late 2022 sent rates higher and prompted a drop in mortgage approvals.
Brighter prospects appear to have emerged more recently though, with Nationwide reporting on Monday that house prices had climbed at their fastest in two years this month.
Prices ticked up by 0.7% between August and September, according to the lender, and grew by 3.2% on an annual basis to an average of £266,094.
This came as income growth outstripped house price increases, Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner noted, as banks also continued to cut mortgage rates in a bid to win over prospective buyers.