2026! As we’ve entered this new year…one thing is clear: people are moving home, but they are doing so with greater care, preparation, and intention than before.
Across the property and financial services sectors, 2025 revealed important shifts in how clients behave, what they value, and where pressure points emerge during transactions. For estate agents, mortgage advisers and financial professionals, understanding these changes is key to supporting clients effectively and protecting trusted professional relationships.
At Priory Law, we have been reflecting on what the past year has shown us, and how, by working collaboratively, professional partners can help make 2026 smoother, calmer and more successful for everyone involved.
2025 Highlighted Where Pressure Builds in Transactions
Moving activity in 2025 was not evenly distributed. Data published by Reallymoving showed that 31 October (Halloween) was the busiest moving day of the year, with around 24,700 moves, compared with a daily average closer to 5,000.
This pattern matters less because of the date itself, and more because of what it represents: clients increasingly gravitate towards moments of certainty. Mortgage offer timelines, personal deadlines and seasonal considerations often converge, creating condensed completion windows and increased pressure across the chain.
For professional partners, this reinforces the importance of early planning, realistic timelines, and proactive coordination – particularly when activity becomes concentrated rather than spread.
Clients Are Moving More Locally and More Deliberately
Reallymoving’s 2025 analysis also showed that the median distance moved fell to 10 miles, down from 12 miles the year before. This suggests a growing preference for familiarity, local networks, and continuity, rather than wholesale relocation.
Shorter moves are not necessarily simpler moves. Clients staying close to home often have strong emotional ties to an area and higher expectations around timing, certainty, and outcome. These transactions benefit from professionals who understand that decision-making is as much about reassurance as logistics.
First-Time Buyers Remain a Driving Force
Despite affordability pressures, first-time buyers continued to play a major role in 2025. It is reported that first-time buyers accounted for 58% of buyers, paying an average price of £275,594, with a proportion using Shared Ownership schemes.
For professional partners, this is significant. First-time buyers are typically highly committed once they decide to proceed, but they are also more sensitive to uncertainty, unexpected costs, and inconsistent communication.
Joined-up professional support, from agent to adviser to conveyancer, has a direct impact on confidence and momentum at this stage of the market.
Broader Consumer Insight Explains the Shift
These housing trends reflect wider changes in consumer behaviour. Research from organisations such as Mintel highlights that traditional life stages are becoming less linear, with people making decisions based on individual priorities rather than fixed milestones. Trust, transparency, and clarity are increasingly central to how consumers choose professional services.
Demographic insight from the Office for National Statistics also reflects changing household structures and living arrangements, reinforcing the idea that many transactions no longer fit a standard template.
National press commentary, including analysis in publications such as The Telegraph, has echoed this shift, describing housing decisions as more closely linked to wellbeing, lifestyle balance and long-term planning.
Taken together, this insight explains why clients are more engaged, more inquisitive, and more cautious, not because they are uncertain, but because they want to make the right decision.
2026: A Market of Opportunity, Not Impulse
Looking ahead, market commentary from Nationwide Building Society suggests that improving affordability and easing mortgage conditions may support buyer confidence into 2026. Rightmove’s outlook similarly points to a more balanced environment, particularly for first-time buyers.
However, the behaviours seen in 2025 are unlikely to disappear. Clients may feel more confident, but they will remain thoughtful. They will expect professional standards to match the significance of the decision they are making.
What This Means for Professional Partners
The strongest lesson from 2025 is that transaction success increasingly depends on how well professionals work together.
In 2026, effective support means:
- Encouraging earlier legal instruction, allowing potential issues to be identified and resolved before pressure builds.
- Aligning on transparency around costs and process, so clients feel informed rather than unsettled.
- Normalising proactive communication, reducing the need for reactive conversations later.
- Coordinating expectations across the chain, particularly around timing and completion windows.
- Recognising that reassurance is not a “soft” skill, but a driver of smoother progression and client confidence.
Priory Law’s Role in Supporting Collaboration
At Priory Law, we bring together consumer insight, regulatory best practice, and hands-on expert conveyancing experience to support transactions that reflect how people make decisions today.
We work with professional partners who value:
- Clear and proactive communication
- Transparent, fixed legal costs
- Calm, steady case management
- Time for explanation and reassurance
- A values-led approach that protects client trust.
Our aim is not just to complete transactions, but to support the wider professional relationships that underpin them.
Making 2026 a Shared Success
2025 showed us that demand has not disappeared, it has become more deliberate. Clients still want to move, but they want to do so with confidence and clarity. In 2026 we need to align around the fundamentals – transparency, communication, collaboration and remaining calm… will help ensure transactions run more smoothly and client relationships remain strong. For professional partners, working with conveyancers who understand both the human and practical pressures of modern transactions is key to delivering the standard of service today’s clients expect.
At Priory Law, we believe thoughtful moves deserve thoughtful professional support, for clients and for the partners who work alongside us. We also actively support our professional partners through training and insight sessions for their teams. By taking the time to explain how our processes work, how we communicate with clients and how we manage pressure points within transactions, we help ensure everyone involved feels aligned and informed from the outset.
If you’re not already one of our valued professional partners and you would like to explore working with Priory Law in 2026, whether through client introductions, collaborative training or simply an initial conversation, we would be delighted to talk. Thoughtful moves deserve thoughtful professional support, and we believe the best outcomes are achieved when trusted partners work closely together.
About Priory Law
Priory Law is an outstanding conveyancing firm providing expert property law services throughout England and Wales. Led by Anne-Marie Fowler, the team is recognised for their deep expertise, proactive communication, and exceptional client care. At Priory Law, we combine experience with innovation to deliver a seamless, jargon-free service that puts our clients first. Our dedication to transparency and customer satisfaction is reflected in our growing number of five-star reviews, available on Google and Review Solicitors – a testament to the trusted reputation Priory Law has built within the conveyancing industry.