Britain’s shock decision to leave the EU has led to widespread uncertainty among both buyers and sellers in the St Albans area.

Andy Young, Director and Head of Residential for Aitchisons, agrees that the result has put the brakes on sales a little – but stresses that the future is unlikely to be as bleak as it may currently appear.

He says: “Certainly statistics confirm what most estate agents advise, that the EU referendum has slowed activity in the housing market as a result of buyer and seller confidence ebbing due to uncertainty across various markets. All this in what is usually the peak time of year for activity in the housing market!

“However, similar conditions have been experienced all too recently. Indeed, only last year with the UK elections the housing market slowed due to uncertainty, only for activity to gather momentum as the year went on – particularly after the summer holidays, where good levels of buyer registration and sales were experienced in the last quarter of 2015.”

With this in mind, should we be anticipating a similar pattern in 2016?

Andy says: “Ultimately, nobody knows what the future holds. Prior to the Referendum, my experienced colleagues witnessed a chronic shortage of stock with extraordinarily high demand and cheap funding available.

“Pent up demand remains and the cost of borrowing is still low. One can only assume that, now a decision has been made, we can return to some normality and continue to make long term plans and commitments with some confidence.”