Private property sales become a permanent feature of the London market

The analysis shows that London recorded an estimated 80,688 residential property transactions during 2025, of which almost 14,000 (13,980) are estimated to have been agreed away from the public market. 

Whilst this equates to an estimated 17% of all London transactions, the volume itself demonstrates how established the private market has become. Despite overall market activity remaining well below the post-pandemic peak of 119,093 transactions recorded in 2021, almost 14,000 homes still changed hands privately during 2025. 

Fifteen years earlier, in 2010, just 1,839 London homes were estimated to have sold privately. By 2021 that figure had risen to 23,819, remaining above 23,000 in 2022 before easing alongside wider market conditions. Even so, the estimated volume of private sales completed during 2025 remains more than seven times higher than it was in 2010. 

The findings suggest that private transactions have evolved from a niche part of London's residential market into an established route to sale, with trusted relationships between agents playing an increasingly important role in connecting buyers and sellers. 

Founder of AgentWise, Eric Corsaletti, commented: 

"For many people, the term 'private sale' still conjures images of trophy homes changing hands quietly between ultra-high-net-worth individuals. Whilst that certainly remains part of the market, today's private market is much broader than that. 

What has really changed over the last decade is the way agents collaborate. As buyer pools have become more specialist, more international and more relationship-led, agents are increasingly working together to identify the right buyer long before a property reaches the wider market." 

Corsaletti added: 

"The public market remains hugely important and always will be. But what these figures show is that private transactions have become a permanent feature of the market rather than an occasional alternative. 

Nearly 14,000 London homes changing hands privately in a year of relatively subdued market activity tells us that this isn't simply a by-product of buoyant conditions. It's a reflection of how the industry has evolved. 

For agents, success increasingly depends not just on who they know within their own business, but on the strength of the wider professional network they can call upon. As collaboration becomes more important, having access to trusted relationships across firms, markets and countries is becoming a genuine competitive advantage." 

Data tables and sources

% of homes sold off market sourced from Hamptons and applied to transaction data from Gov UK - 2007 to 2025.

View full data tables and sources online here.