Prime home prices in central London rose 0.3% in the three months to September 2026, according to the estate agency Knight Frank, the first quarterly increase its index has shown in four years. Values were still 2% lower than a year earlier. In the outer prime districts, rents climbed 3% over the year as fewer homes came onto the letting market.
Knight Frank published the September readings of its prime London sales and lettings indices on 2 October 2026. Its prime central London (PCL) sales index stood at 5,004.4. The agency describes the 0.3% gain as the first period of quarterly price growth in PCL for four years, and the 2% annual fall as the smallest in 18 months. Set against the June level of 4,991.4 that Knight Frank published in July, the September figure is about 0.3% higher, consistent with the quarterly change. The annual decline has narrowed through 2026, from 5% in the year to January to 3.3% in the year to August. Knight Frank puts average PCL prices 22% below their last peak, reached in August 2015.
These are an estate agency's own figures, not an official statistic. Knight Frank's most recent published index notes, from 2019, describe its prime London sales indices as based on repeat valuations of existing homes, with new-build property left out, and the September release does not set out the size of that sample. The firm also sells and lets prime homes across London, and the same release quotes its head of London sales saying that buyers are "sensing value after the price declines of the last decade". The commentary around the figures therefore comes from a firm with an interest in the market, and the index is best read alongside official and independent data.
The outer prime districts have been steadier on prices. In prime outer London (POL), Knight Frank's sales index fell 0.6% over the year to 273.7, and the agency says values there have not moved by more than 1% in either direction since May 2025. Rents, by contrast, have risen more quickly. Average POL rents rose 3% in the year to September, including 2.3% over the last six months, which Knight Frank calls the quickest half-year rise since January 2024. In PCL, rental values rose 1.3% over the year. Knight Frank links the increase to a shrinking supply of homes to let, with new POL listings 6.4% lower in the year to August than in the previous 12 months. A higher rent is not the same as a higher return on a purchase price, and the release gives no yield figure.
Sales activity has also stabilised on the agency's count. Exchanges across PCL and POL in the year to September were 2.5% below the previous 12 months, Knight Frank data shows, compared with a 14% fall in the year to March. At the top of the market, Knight Frank, citing whole-market data, counts 121 sales above £10 million in the year to September, the same number as a year earlier, while total spending at that level rose 14% to £2.4 billion.
Knight Frank names two dates that will shape the last three months of the year. The first is the Budget on 28 October 2026, which it says will provide clarity around taxation. The second is the US mid-term elections on 3 November, after which it suggests the outlook for mortgage rates may become clearer. The agency also notes that mortgage costs rose again in mid-September as tensions in the Middle East returned. What the Budget will contain has not been announced.
How Knight Frank's figures compare with LonRes data over the summer is set out in London prime this autumn.
Sources
Sources read 6 October 2026 (SGT).
- No News Has Been Good News for the Prime London Market, Knight Frank, Tom Bill, 2 October 2026 (primary, agency research). Supports the September 2026 PCL sales index of 5,004.4 and POL sales index of 273.7, the 0.3% quarterly rise as the first in four years, the 2% annual fall as the smallest in 18 months, the POL annual fall of 0.6% and the 1% range since May 2025, the 22% fall from the August 2015 peak, exchanges down 2.5% against 14% in March, 121 sales above £10 million and total spend up 14% to £2.4 billion, the quote from the head of London sales, and the Budget, mid-term and mortgage-cost points.
- Prime London Rents Rise as Tenants Feel the Pre-Budget Squeeze, Knight Frank, Tom Bill, 2 October 2026 (primary, agency research). Supports POL rents up 3% in the year to September, 2.3% over six months as the fastest half-year rise since January 2024, PCL rents up 1.3%, and new POL listings down 6.4% in the year to August.
- Prime Market Braces for Another Summer of Speculation, Knight Frank, Tom Bill, 6 July 2026 (primary). Supports the June 2026 PCL sales index of 4,991.4.
- Prime London Property Market Stabilises but Political Clouds Gather, Knight Frank, Tom Bill, 9 February 2026 (primary). Supports the 5% annual PCL fall in the year to January 2026.
- Prime London Transactions Rise as Budget Headlines Recede, Knight Frank, Tom Bill, 4 September 2026 (primary, August 2026 reading). Supports the 3.3% annual PCL fall in the year to August 2026.
- Prime London Sales Index December 2019, Knight Frank, index notes, PDF (primary). Supports the description of the indices as repeat valuations of existing stock excluding new-build property.
- Knight Frank Estate Agents | London & UK Property Experts, Knight Frank homepage (primary, company). Supports Knight Frank's business as an estate agent selling homes in London.
- Rent my property | Knight Frank UK, Knight Frank lettings page (primary, company). Supports Knight Frank's business as an estate agent letting homes in London.