The verdict from the latest RICS residential market survey is as pithy as it is accurate: the UK housing market is "not broken but barely breathing." Behind that memorable phrase sits a familiar but increasingly entrenched reality — transaction volumes remain well below their pre-2022 norms, new buyer enquiries are essentially flat, and agreed sales have shown only marginal improvement month-on-month. For an industry accustomed to boom-bust narratives, this prolonged period of low-grade stagnation is arguably more challenging to navigate than a sharp correction, because it offers neither the clarity of a bottom nor the momentum of a recovery.