The number of UK residential property sales increased by 9.8 per cent from September to reach 105,630 in October, according to Land Registry and HM Revenue & Customs figures.

The seasonally adjusted figures are based on the number of property transactions over £40,000 that were registered with tax officials during the month.

October’s total was also 8.1 per cent higher than the same month last year. 

Non-residential sales increased by 6.2 per cent month on month to 9,140, but were 5.1 per cent lower than a year ago.

MT Finance director Joshua Elash says: “The continued growth in volume of residential transactions is breathtaking. 

“October’s data no longer merely reflects pent-up demand but points directly to the impact of the stamp duty concession. 

“It looks and feels as though there is a rush to take advantage of this opportunity, which is driving continued growth in transactional volumes.

“The obvious concern is what happens to demand and transactional volumes if, and when, the stamp duty holiday ends. 

“Without an extension, we risk seeing a violent drop in activity, leading to a fall in asset values.

“It is no surprise to see that non-residential transactions are down year-on-year, with Covid hitting commercial assets particularly hard as more businesses struggle to survive. 

“We expect this trend to accelerate.”

Property developer Southern Grove’s chairman Andrew Southern says: “Covid-19 has blown the lid off the housing market. After years in the doldrums, coronavirus has unexpectedly provided the rude awakening the market needed to launch its great escape. 

“The pandemic and a raft of measures to support the economy have delivered record house prices and, finally, a head-turning recovery in sales volumes.

“There haven’t been more transactions than this in a single month since March 2016, and even that was a very unusual spike created by tax changes for landlords. 

“This pandemic milestone is very much against the run of play, and mirrors the outperformance of the housing market compared with other sectors. 

“It’s also the first time since the coronavirus erupted that residential sales volumes have grown on an annual basis, and that’s fantastic news.

“It reinforces the strength of the housing market, which gives developers the confidence to keep growing and building. 

“It also provides a confidence boost to prospective homeowners who, in the face of an onslaught of negative news and the prospect that the end of the stamp duty holiday in March could soften prices, don’t want to feel they are jumping in with both feet just at the wrong moment. 

“The reality is that the UK market has always shown strength in value over the medium term. 

“The optimistic amongst us will be hoping this healthy upward trend will continue to the long forgotten highs that were considered perfectly normal prior to the global financial crisis.”