Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent changes to mortgage rates, including those influenced by recent global economic conditions, on housing market activity.

The Government keeps the economic outlook, including the housing market, under close review. The path to lower interest rates is through low inflation, and the government is fully committed to supporting the Bank of England get inflation back down to the 2% target.

The pricing and availability of mortgages is ultimately a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene. Despite recent global developments, the mortgage market remains open, resilient, and competitive across all major product types and segments, and the average offered mortgage rates on 2-year, and 5-year fixed rates remain below their peaks in 2023. The Government remains committed to addressing the cost of living and helping more people to own their own home.

We do not yet have official data on housing market activity covering the period following the start of the conflict in Iran. The latest HMRC statistics on the number of UK property transactions covering up to and including February 2026 show that transactions increased by 6% compared to January 2026.