The committee stopped short of recommending outright abolition, instead urging the government to launch a consultation into potential alternatives by the end of 2026.
Renovating instead of relocating
Data from secured loan broker Loans Warehouse shows one way this reluctance to move is appearing in lending activity. The broker recorded a 14% rise in secured loans completed for home improvement purposes in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the first quarter, as homeowners chose to extend or renovate rather than take on the combined costs of relocating, including legal fees, surveys and stamp duty.
Market data reported in mid-2026 illustrated the scale of the slowdown. Completions reached 269,000 in the first quarter of 2026, around 30,000 below the five-year quarterly average, according to RSM UK’s Q1 2026 housing tracker.
The average two-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 5.68% as of 1 June, up from 4.83% in early March, while annual house price growth across major indices stood at roughly 1.2%, according to the HomeOwners Alliance.
The rate backdrop
The Bank of England has held the base rate at 3.75% for a sixth consecutive meeting, with the Monetary Policy Committee’s September 17 decision coming as Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation rose to 3.1% in August, up from 2.9% in July.
