Provisional official estimates of UK residential transactions suggest the number of deals has ‘stabilised’ above their pre-Coronavirus level.

The figures, from the Office of National Statistics, are based on tax declarations.

They show that in May 2022 there were just under 101,000 transactions involving property sold for over £40,000. This compared with 97,000 May 2019.

‘Following substantial decreases during the spring of 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic, UK residential transactions gradually increased in subsequent months, alongside large peaks in March, June, and September 2021 caused by temporarily increased nil rate bands of property taxes’, said ONS in its latest monthly report.

‘Between May 2019 and March 2020, UK residential transactions followed a seasonal but stable trend, with higher transactions during summer and autumn months and lower transactions during the remaining months.

Seasonally adjusted, the figures suggest UK residential transactions in May 2022 were 5.1 per cent lower than in May 2021 but 1.3 per cent higher than in April 2022.