Country homes above £750,000 outside London are 4.2% cheaper than a year ago and offers are down 10%, Knight Frank says, as the average five-year fix reaches 6% ahead of the Budget

Knight Frank's weekly note of 9 October, by Tom Bill, carries its Country market figures - "an area that covers a range of urban and rural properties above £750,000 outside London".

"Average prices fell 4.2% in the year to September, which was a marginal improvement on the decline of 5% recorded in the year to June." Exchanges in the Country were 2% lower in the third quarter than a year earlier, and the number of offers made was 10% lower.

James Cleland, Knight Frank's head of Country sales: "Whilst well-priced properties are generating good interest, overall sentiment is brittle due to the uncertainty of what will be in the Burnham administration's first Budget, on top of rising mortgage rates".

The borrowing figures in the note are other people's, as it cites them: the average five-year fixed mortgage rate "hit 6% this month, the highest figure since September 2023, according to Moneyfacts"; Bank of England data show mortgage approvals 14% below their five-year average in August; HMRC transactions were flat on the same benchmark. Because mortgage offers last up to six months, Knight Frank reads it as "transaction numbers are likely to decline in the final months of the year".

The note sets the parties side by side on property tax before the Budget. Labour's council tax surcharge falls on homes worth £2 million or more; the Conservatives would scrap it and abolish inheritance tax on primary residences. Kemi Badenoch: "No stamp duty when you buy your home, no mansion tax when you live in your home and no inheritance tax on your home when you pass it to your children or grandchildren". A Reform spokesman told Knight Frank: "Reform is against new taxes in principle, and definitely against new taxes imposed without a mandate."