The Voice of the Agent 2026: A Market Learning to Live in Its New Weather

The UK property market isn't collapsing. It isn't surging either. Instead, as we head into 2026, it's doing something far more interesting: it's learning to function in conditions that feel permanently different from the pre-pandemic era.

That's the picture emerging from the latest Voice of the Agent report, our monthly insight engine that captures real-time sentiment from estate and letting agents across the UK. Now in its fourth year, The Voice of the Agent (TVOTA) remains the industry's most prominent agent-led research initiative - built with agents, not just about them.

Unlike traditional reports that land months after the fact, TVOTA surveys hundreds of agents every month on everything from market confidence and pricing expectations to recruitment pressures and mental health. The result? A rolling, up-to-date snapshot of what's actually happening on the ground, told by the people valuing, listing, negotiating, and closing deals every day.

The Big Picture: Confidence Without Exuberance

The overarching story in January's report isn't one of crisis or celebration. It's steadiness. Confidence remains positive across sales and lettings, but it's settled into a more measured state. Agents expect modest price growth, not because momentum is building, but because they've accepted a new baseline: higher interest rates, tighter affordability, and slower adjustment cycles.

Half of respondents describe current market conditions as "normal," with another 44% leaning slightly towards weakness. Only a tiny minority sees the market as either very strong or very weak. This isn't polarisation, it's recalibration. The market has stopped waiting for things to "get back to normal" and started operating within the new normal instead.

Transaction data backs this up. TwentyCi's end-of-year figures show supply, sales agreed, and completions all rising year-on-year. This is not a stalled market. But longer transaction times, higher fall-throughs, and more price changes reveal greater friction. Price discovery has replaced price chasing.

Policy Uncertainty: The Grit in the Gears

One of the report's sharpest insights centres on policy - specifically, the proposed High Value Council Tax Surcharge on properties above £2 million. Despite not taking effect until April 2028 and costing a maximum of £7,500 annually, demand for £2 million-plus homes fell 19% year-on-year following the Budget announcement.

The cost itself is modest. But the signal introduced sufficient uncertainty to slow decision-making at the top end, with knock-on effects rippling through adjacent price bands. London bore the brunt: Inner London saw sales agreed drop 5.5%, with Outer London down 1.9%, while every other UK region posted growth.

It's a textbook example of how behavioural triggers work. In a market already sensitive to timing and value, even small future costs can suppress demand when they signal instability.

Sales: Cautious Expansion, Disciplined Pricing

On the sales side, agents aren't retreating, but they're not overreaching either. In 2025, most firms either held vendor relationships steady or expanded them modestly. Looking ahead to 2026, expectations shift decisively towards further expansion, but again in measured steps. This is preparedness, not exuberance.

Price expectations reinforce this tone. A majority (58%) anticipate property values staying broadly flat, with modest upside outweighing modest downside. Extreme outcomes are dismissed. The market is planning for drift, not acceleration or correction.

Fee data tells a similar story. Pricing is tightly clustered around 1.0% to 1.25%, suggesting a settled understanding of value. Fees scale gradually with property price, reflecting rising complexity rather than opportunism. Revenue concentration remains firmly at the top end: properties above £500k represent just under a quarter of instructions but deliver well over half of all fees.

Growth, in other words, won't come from optimism or price inflation. It'll come from defending access to higher-value complexity and executing consistently in a market that rewards discipline over noise.

Lettings: Stability Under Structural Pressure

The lettings market tells a complementary story. Landlord numbers remain broadly stable, with modest growth offset by a persistent minority experiencing decline. Where growth exists, it's incremental - often won through switching or consolidation rather than net new formation. Retention carries as much strategic weight as acquisition.

Rental value expectations show slightly more optimism than sales, but within tight bounds. Stability and modest growth dominate (43% expect rents to stay the same, 40% anticipate modest increases up to 10%). This implies predictable income rather than upside surprise.

The structural imbalance in lettings is striking: mainstream stock below £2,000 per month accounts for the bulk of instructions but generates proportionally less fee income. Fully managed fees are tightly clustered around 8% to 12%, signalling a shared understanding of value. Let-only pricing is more fragmented, functioning as a strategic lever rather than a settled norm.

Competition: The Battle for Supply

Perhaps the report's most revealing finding is this: the market isn't constrained by buyer or tenant demand. It's constrained by competition for instructions.

When asked to identify their single biggest challenge, 36% of agents pointed to generating enough new vendors or landlords - more than double the next concern. Buyer or tenant demand registered as the least acute issue at just 3%.

This is a top-of-funnel problem. Most agents operate in crowded patches, routinely competing with six or more other agencies. Low-competition environments are the exception, not the rule. In such conditions, small repeatable edges compound, while inconsistency is exposed quickly.

Who's Telling This Story?

It's worth noting who these insights come from. The survey reflects a leadership view: 71% of respondents sit at the owner, board, or C-suite level, with a further 16% at the director or senior management level. They're predominantly male (66%), mid to late career (79% aged 35–64), and geographically weighted towards the South and London.

They're also mostly small operators: 46% run single-office agencies, with a further 23% operating two to three branches. These are businesses where margins are tighter, optionality is limited, and execution discipline matters disproportionately.

This matters because it frames the data. What we're hearing is how those controlling strategies, pricing, and investment are interpreting current conditions. The voice here is managerial and strategic, shaped by experience, responsibility, and commercial risk.

What's Next: Marketing, Portals, and February's Deep Dive

January's report focused on the market overall, sales, lettings, and competition. But there's more to come.

February's edition will turn its attention to marketing and the portals, exploring how agents are allocating budgets, which channels are delivering results, and how the relationships with Rightmove, Zoopla, and OnTheMarket are evolving in a cost-conscious environment.

The new survey opens shortly. If you want to contribute your voice and ensure you don't miss the findings, subscribe to the Unchained newsletter.

Because in a market learning to live in its new weather, the agents who outperform won't be those who list more stock. There will be those who remove friction, increase certainty, and execute with discipline.

And that starts with understanding what's actually happening - not what we assume is happening.

Prefer to listen? You can hear an in-depth analysis on The Voice of the Agent podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.