Estate Agents are fearing a "property drought" with less than 100 homes for sale in a Sussex town.

Burgess Hill boasts one of the most competitive estate agency markets in the county but many vendors said they were struggling to fill their windows with homes.

Carnabys Independent Estate Agents said there were just 98 properties for sale in the town, with double that amount on the market in nearby Haywards Heath.

Other agents said the market was so good properties could be advertised and sold within one or two days.

But all agreed there were more buyers looking for homes in the town than there were properties.

Terry Wilmot, managing director of Carnabys, said: "I've been through these periods before but they tend to be reflective of neighbouring towns.

"However, it seems that Burgess Hill is surrounded by towns that have a number of houses on the market.

"Brighton, Hassocks and Haywards Heath seem to have many more properties for sale.

"I'm not sure what's causing the problem in Burgess Hill, maybe it's just that everyone is really content where they are."

Stephen Neocleous, a partner in Your Move, Church Walk, Burgess Hill, said many agents had fewer than ten homes for sale on their books.

He said: "There is a drought. If you look in most estate agent windows you'll see lots of 'Sale Agreed' notices but very few for sale.

"There are less and less coming onto the market and there are a couple of reasons. The first would be the Home Information Pack (HIP) debacle and then interest rates, plus the fact we're heading towards the summer holidays.

"But we run three offices and it's definitely not the same in our other ones so I don't know why there is a particular problem in Burgess Hill."

Keith Gale, of Duffy and Company, also on Church Road, said the property drought was nothing new.

He said: "There's been a shortage all year but that means the market's good - property comes in and sells within a couple of days - but there's still a selection on most agents' books.

"Up until now there has been more buyers than sellers. In an ideal world if we had more houses we could sell them."

However, even with a shortage Carnabys said house prices wouldn't be affected.

Mr Wilmot said: "Historically, Brighton sets the trend for Mid Sussex. Movements in the housing market tend to make their way over The Downs sooner or later.

"If you look at the situation in Burgess Hill without knowing the area you would immediately assume that a shortage of houses would boost house prices.

"But Burgess Hill is part of Mid Sussex and the surrounding towns have enough stock to cope with buyer demand."

John Clayson, principal agent at Hunters, in Church Road, said: "There's still a very high demand but we're taking a lot of property on and selling them within a day or so."

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