About one property in ten sells in three years: Stamford and Rutland's pre-market
How few homes change hands in Rutland and South Kesteven, and what owners and buyers can do before an advert. open for offer is the pre-market.
open for offer lets you test the market before you list. Rutland's 18,090 homes saw 1,832 sales in the three years to August 2026: about one in 10. South Kesteven, which includes Stamford, was much the same.
Last reviewed 3 November 2026. Homes: the government's dwelling stock estimate for 31 March 2025. Sales: standard sales of houses and flats dated 1 September 2023 to 31 August 2026.
How many homes change hands around Stamford and Rutland?
| Area | Homes (31 March 2025) | Sales in three years | Homes per sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rutland | 18,090 | 1,832 | 9.9 |
| South Kesteven | 68,099 | 6,513 | 10.5 |
Over three years, about one home in 10 changed hands in both areas. In an average year that is roughly one home in 30.
A sale is not a home: one house can sell twice in the period. And the government says its district estimates should not be read as accurate to the last digit.
So the ratio describes how quietly the market moves, not an exact share of homes.
South Kesteven is larger than the Stamford area. It also takes in Grantham, Bourne and many villages, so it is the official district figure for Stamford rather than a figure for the town alone.
What is the pre-market, here?
open for offer is the pre-market, the market that exists before a property is ever advertised.
Around Stamford and Rutland, that is where nine homes in 10 stayed over three years: lived in, with a price they would fetch, and no sale.
An owner does not have to do anything for a home to be part of the pre-market. The question is whether you want to know what that market would pay before you decide anything.
What can an owner here do?
- Look up the market estimate for your address. It starts from the sales we hold for your home and comes as a range.
- Claim your home. Claiming your home is free.
- Test the market before choosing whether to list.
Testing the market is £9.99 a month, cancel any time.
Buyers can register interest in your home on its page.
None of these steps lists your home. Looking up the estimate commits you to nothing, and you can decide afterwards whether testing the market is worth it for you.
Why owners here might want to look first
In a market where about one home in 10 changes hands in three years, a new advert stands out.
You can cut the price. You can't un-list. Looking first is how an owner avoids learning the market's answer in public.
Why the official count matters
We first worked this ratio out against our own property records. Those hold fewer homes than the government counts, which made the market look busier than it is.
The dwelling stock estimate is the better base, so this page uses it.
The difference is not small. Against our records the answer was about one sale in six; against the official count it is about one in 10. A quieter market than it first looked.
What the ratio does not tell you
It does not say which homes will sell next, or when. It does not mean nine in 10 owners have no plans to move.
It only sets the sales the register holds against the homes the government counts, which is a measure of how quiet the market is.
What can a buyer here do?
If you are looking in Stamford or Rutland, the home you want may never be advertised while you are looking. You can register interest in a home that has a page on open for offer, including one nobody has advertised.
It joins that home's queue. We don't contact the owner for you, and it is not an offer.
For more on that, read buying in Rutland or Stamford before a home is advertised.
Local figures in more detail
Our Stamford pages break the town's sales down by type: detached, semi-detached, terraced and flats. Sellers there had typically owned for more than nine years, as our guide to selling in Stamford shows.
Sources and method
Homes: MHCLG, Live table 100, dwelling stock by local authority, 31 March 2025 (provisional), published 21 May 2026, read 3 November 2026.
Sales: HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, linked data service, read 3 November 2026.
We kept standard (category A) sales of houses and flats with district Rutland or South Kesteven, dated 1 September 2023 to 31 August 2026, each sale once.
Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Corrections: none so far. If we find an error, we will correct it here, with the date and the figure we changed.
Common questions
How many homes sell in Rutland each year?
HM Land Registry recorded 1,832 standard home sales in Rutland from September 2023 to August 2026, against 18,090 homes in the government's estimate for March 2025: about one sale for every 10 homes over three years.
What is the pre-market?
The market that exists before a property is ever advertised. On open for offer, an owner can see a market estimate and test the market before deciding whether to list.