Home ‘flipping’ hotspots where properties are re-sold within months revealed

Rising upfront costs are eating into property investors’ profits, pushing them further north, Hamptons said.

Rising upfront costs have pushed property investors further north, Hamptons said (Joe Giddens/PA) (PA Archive)

The proportion of homes being “flipped” – bought and then re-sold within months – has reached its lowest level in more than a decade, according to analysis.

Property firm Hamptons used Land Registry house sales data covering England and Wales, to make the analysis.

It defined a flipped home as a property that was bought and then sold within a 12-month period.

In the first quarter of 2025, 2.3% of homes that were sold had been flipped. This was the lowest proportion since the first quarter of 2013 when a figure of 2.3% was also recorded, and down from 3.6% in the first quarter of 2024.

The average gross profit (the difference between the sale and purchase price, before other costs are factored in) earned on a flipped property in the first quarter of 2025 was £22,000.

Average gross profits were calculated as an average across all sales – including those where sellers made a loss, or broke even.

Four-fifths (80%) of flipped homes selling in the first quarter of 2025 did make a gross profit – but Hamptons said the proportion of people making a profit would be reduced when stamp duty costs were factored in. Stamp duty applies in England and in Wales, the land transaction tax applies.

Average gross profits have nearly halved since they last peaked at £38,000 in 2022, Hamptons said.

It added that higher costs generally, such as materials and labour, and slower house price growth, will have weighed on the appetite for property investing.

The North East of England remains a hotspot for flipping, with Redcar and Cleveland being particularly popular, according to the analysis.

In the North East, 4.7% of all homes sold in the first quarter of 2025 had been bought within the previous 12 months.

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In the first quarter of this year, 61% of flipped properties were in the Midlands, North of England or Wales, up from 50% a decade ago, Hamptons said.

In London, just 1.5% of homes sold in the first quarter of 2025 were bought within the previous 12 months. As well as stamp duty costs, weaker house price growth in the capital has also dampened investor returns, Hamptons said.

Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, said: “Rising upfront costs have pushed investors further north.”

She added: “It’s also where more house price growth has been concentrated over the last few years. While the returns aren’t as high as with homes in the south in cash terms, higher yields and lower tax bills continue to make the north the homeland of flipping.”

Here are the proportions of home sales which are flipped by region and nation, followed by the average gross profit (before costs such as stamp duty) in cash and percentage terms:

North East, 4.7%, £14,250, 12%

Wales, 3.1%, £25,000, 17%

Yorkshire and the Humber, 3.0%,  £18,995, 11%

East Midlands, 2.8%, £13,500, 7%

North West, 2.8%,  £25,000, 16%

West Midlands, 2.5%, £25,000, 15%

South West, 2.2%, £20,000, 8%

East of England, 1.8%, £22,000, 7%

South East, 1.8%, £23,000, 7%

London, 1.5%, £59,000, 16%

Here are the local authorities with the highest proportions of flipped homes in the first quarter of 2025, according to Hamptons:

1. Redcar and Cleveland, North East, 7.6%

2. Co Durham, North East, 6.6%

3. Hartlepool, North East, 6.5%

4. Burnley, North West, 5.8%

5. Bassetlaw, East Midlands, 5.2%

6. Newport (City of), Wales, 5.0%

=7. Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, 4.9%

=7. Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, 4.9%

=9. North Tyneside, North East, 4.8%

=9. Sunderland, North East, 4.8%

=9. Great Yarmouth, East of England, 4.8%

=9. Neath Port Talbot, Wales, 4.8%

13. Blaenau Gwent, Wales, 4.7%

14. Torridge, South West, 4.6%

15. Pendle, North West, 4.5%

=16. Erewash, East Midlands, 4.4%

=16. North East Derbyshire, East Midlands, 4.4%

=18. West Lindsey, East Midlands, 4.3%

=18. Caerphilly, Wales, 4.3%

20. Wigan, North West, 4.2%