Rural View

11/12/2025

2025 – A Year of Tariffs & Budgets

The traditional winter slowdown in the local property market started much earlier and more deeply than usual this year. This was as a direct result of speculation since the summer that the Government were going to introduce a raft of measures in the autumn budget that might affect the housing sector. These included an overhaul of the Stamp Duty system, a raid on savers’ pension pots, changes to Capital Gains Tax relief on the sale of main homes, the introduction of a Mansion Tax amongst several other possibilities.

The rumours had a marked impact on the market with a sizable number of sellers and buyers putting their moving plans on hold whilst others made a concerted effort to secure a sale/purchase ahead of the budget. This led to Rural View agreeing a good tranche of sales in September and early October but otherwise activity levels tailed off sharply in the weeks leading up to the chancellor’s autumn statement at the end of November.

Apart from an annual surcharge being levied on homes valued over two million pounds from 2028 and a 2% rise in property income tax, the budget was something of a non-event as far as property is concerned. However, all the speculation leading up to it over several months eroded market confidence leading to weaker demand and prices. Its late timing meant that effectively the property year was already over for new business by the time it came around albeit we remained busy managing the sales we arranged earlier in the autumn to successful conclusions.

Home movers in 2025 could have done without the long build-up to the budget and the associated rumour mill as the year had already got off to a challenging start following the global consternation caused by President Trump’s erratic tariff announcements. Despite the ramifications these had on stock markets and investor confidence, Rural View agreed a good level of sales throughout the year.

Over the late spring/early summer period we were delighted to have been favoured as the chosen agents for a sizable number of sellers with many of these instructions coming as a result of personal recommendations. This led to us having our largest ever register of homes to sell and under offer.

Looking forward to 2026, the thinking is that we will see a return to normality in the housing sector over the coming year and we are quietly optimistic that trading conditions will improve and get back on track again in the spring, possibly earlier. A period of political and economic stability both in the UK and globally would certainly be most welcome!

Mark Matthews, Rural View Dec 2025

09/02/2024

January 2024 Wiltshire Property Market Review

The post-Covid frenzy for buying in the country was a phenomenon that spanned a good eighteen months, showing a marked inflation over that period of some 15% – 20% in Wiltshire, Dorset and Somerset (Land Registry Index), although many of the properties we sold demonstrated an improvement even on this figure.

By the middle of 2022, however, mounting energy costs together with inflation and rising interest rates led to a calming of what had been a frenetic market, with some of the ‘froth’ coming off the top. It remained busy over the summer months until the infamous ‘mini budget’ at the end of September 2022 led to an unsettled period with trading levels slowing down drastically and prices falling back some 5% – 10% from their previous highs.

During the early months of 2023 a long, wet winter held back the traditional spring market but it eventually budded. In comparison to other regions, this part of the country was cushioned by continuing demand for character homes in the best locations and, with an ongoing lack of supply, prices were underpinned for those top properties.

Over the summer & autumn months of 2023 Rural View had a particularly successful period at the upper end of market, selling many country houses and with most attracting strong competition. 70% of these sales were conducted off market.

The economy showed early signs of recovery during the second half of the year and confidence in the rest of the housing sector gradually returned, with activity levels improving over the autumn and early winter months. Stock levels were certainly down throughout 2023, but we found that there were still plenty of serious buyers.

Looking forward to the twelve months ahead, the crystal ball is somewhat cloudy. At the time of writing, mortgage rates are falling and the hope is that the base rate will come down as well. We are already seeing improved sentiment in the buyers that we are speaking to, which fills us with confidence, and our thinking is that 2024 will be a much less volatile market with prices remaining stable. We expect our region to continue being an attractive destination for buyers drawn to its beautiful countryside, excellent schools and quality of life, and we hope to see a gradual upturn in overall market conditions as the year progresses.

19/01/2023

South Wiltshire based country & village estate agents Rural View are delighted to announce that we have teamed up with a young go-ahead company called Eden Greenspace who were founded with the sole aim of helping to repair the damage caused to the World’s environment through human activity.

This is not a meaningless ‘greenwashing’ exercise but the opportunity for both us and our clients to positively contribute to the health of the planet and its inhabitants by investing in projects that offer real and practical solutions. Rural View have pledged to donate a portion of our income from sale commission fees to one of the four projects Eden Greenspace are involved with and give our clients the opportunity to say which one they would like to see ‘their’ contribution invested in.

The projects are –

– Removing marine plastic from UK shores

– Planting trees in Africa & Nepal

– Saving bees by rewilding British flower meadows

– Providing solar lights in Sub-Saharan Africa

For more information on Eden Greenspace’s projects and how Rural View are helping to restore the planet email Mark Matthews at [email protected] or if you would like a brochure.

You don’t have to be a vendor client of Rural View to get involved, click on the link Eden Greenspace to find out how you can.

We hope that you’ll share our excitement at becoming part of such a worthwhile and important cause!

25/08/2022

Rural View are proud to be sponsoring the Teffont Village Show on Saturday 27th August 2-5pm.
This archetypical rural village fete takes place in the idyllic grounds of The Manor in Teffont Evias and includes traditional games, tug of war, dog races, competitions, delious food & drinks, fresh cakes, local produce, local craft stalls, band, bottle stall & raffle.
Proceeds to Wiltshire Air Ambulance & Salisbury Hospice

25/08/2022

09/06/2022

Rural View are proud sponsors of Caroline Shenton’s talk ‘National Treasures: Saving the Nation’s Art in World War II' at the Chalke Valley History Festival