The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors has blamed uncertainty surrounding the EU referendum for a marked drop in housing market activity last month.
New buyer enquiries declined significantly across the UK in June, with 36 per cent more chartered surveyors nationally reporting a fall in interest; the lowest reading since mid-2008.
The south of the UK has been the hardest hit, with anecdotal evidence suggesting both the EU result and the stamp duty tax changes at the beginning of April are having an impact on sentiment.
There was a further fall in the supply of properties coming available for sale across the UK in June, with the exception of Northern Ireland, with 45 per cent more chartered surveyors seeing a fall in new instructions in June, from a net balance of -31 per cent in May.
This is the steepest fall on record and extends a trend that has been in place since 2014.
