Property flipping at its lowest in a decade as tax and renovation prices sting
- Profits are being hit by increasing taxes and renovation costs
The number of properties being flipped has fallen to its lowest level in a decade, new data shows.
Flipping refers to the practice of buying a run-down property, renovating it and selling it within a year to make money.
The number of homes flipped has halved from 21,520 in 2016 to 10,570 in 2025, representing the lowest level for 10 years, estate agent Hamptons said.
The introduction of the additional stamp duty surcharge on second homes from 2016 has led to the decline, along with higher renovation and labour costs, according to the research.
Anyone buying a property that is not their main home previously paid a 3 per cent surcharge on top of the standard stamp duty rates, but this was increased to 5 per cent in October 2024.
Someone buying a £200,000 property to flip would now pay £11,500 in tax.
‘Flipping is no longer the profitable venture it once was’, Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, said.
Flipping now accounts for just 1.5 per cent of all housing transactions across England and Wales, down from 2.4 per cent in 2016.
What’s flipping? Flipping typically refers to the practice of buying a run-down property on the cheap, sprucing it up and selling it within a year
Since the additional stamp duty surcharge was introduced in 2016, average profits on flipped homes have halved, Hamptons said.
Stamp duty charges now account for 43 per cent of gross profit, equivalent to an average of £12,400 per transaction. In this context, gross profit is the difference between the sale and purchase price.
While 73.3 per cent of flipped properties still made a gross profit in 2025, once stamp duty was factored in, this fell to 58.7 per cent, down from a peak of 85.9 per cent in 2006.
Dwindling: Flipped properties as a share of all transactions in England and Wales over time
In 2015, the average post-stamp duty gross profit on a flipped property was £36,500. By 2025, this had slipped to £16,390, representing a 55.1 per cent drop.
Initially set at 3 per cent, the additional stamp duty surcharge was later raised to 5 per cent in 2024, further eroding returns on flipped properties.
Properties priced below £100,000 were the most likely to turn a profit last year after being flipped, with 86 per cent doing so. This fell sharply to 28 per cent of properties purchased for more than £350,000.
Investors in the sub-£100,000 bracket achieved average gains of 45.8 per cent in 2025, while returns turned negative for purchases above £350,000. In total, 88.8 per cent of all flipped homes were snapped up for less than £350,000 in 2025, Hamptons said.
Where is Britain’s flipping hotspot?
The South West of England has seen the sharpest gross profit drop, with average post‑stamp duty profits down 80.3 per cent since 2015.
By last year, stamp duty swallowed up 71 per cent of the average gross profit in the region, leaving limited scope for property flippers to generate sizeable returns after tax.
By contrast, the North East was the strongest-performing region in percentage terms, delivering average returns of 36.4 per cent in 2025. The North East of England was also the only region where profits after stamp duty have gone increased since 2015, rising 27 per cent.
Flipping remains reasonably popular in the North East as the region has lower than average property prices, which keep stamp duty bills at a more modest level of about £6,000 per flipped property, against an average of £30,000 in London.
Seventeen per cent of flipped homes in the North East were purchased for £40,000 or less in 2025, incurring no stamp duty liability. ‘Combined with relatively strong house price growth in recent years, this has helped sustain investor activity’, Hamptons said.
Hartlepool recorded the highest share of flipped homes nationally last year, at 7.4 per cent of all transactions, compared with just 0.5 per cent in Brentwood, Essex.
Beveridge said: ‘The surcharge was not primarily intended to penalise house flipping – its primary aim was to support first‑time buyers. While it has largely succeeded in that goal, it has left flipping unviable across much of the South of England.’
She added: ‘Falling house prices across many Southern markets have squeezed returns further, while the cost of materials and labour have risen sharply since the pandemic.
‘Even before factoring in stamp duty, refurbishment budgets now stretch much further than they once did, pushing profit margins to their thinnest levels in over a decade.
‘In contrast, the North – particularly the North East – has remained far more resilient. Lower entry prices keep stamp duty bills modest, meaning more scope to add value through refurbishment.
‘Combined with strong local house price growth, this has created a rare pocket of the country where flipping can still deliver healthy returns.
‘Unless a flip is supported by strong underlying house price growth, turning a profit is becoming increasingly difficult. That said, investing in relatively cheaper property in an area where house price growth is strong can still yield solid returns.’
