Buyer demand cools as stamp duty holiday tapers

"Anyone who can bring their transaction forward to 2020 from next year or even later is doing so," says property portal Juwai, against fears of higher Stamp Duty rates from 2021.

"We haven’t yet seen any significant increase in properties falling through so it looks like most are going ahead regardless," says Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s Director of Property Data.

Annual property price inflation in Prime Central London has picked up to 0.8%; the highest rate since May 2016.