Retirement home builder McCarthy & Stone expects to ramp up its use of discounts and part-exchange deals in the coming months as potential buyers face problems selling their own properties.

The Bournemouth-based group said the increased use of discounts and incentives, particularly part-exchange, was expected to continue into the second half of its financial year “to counteract more challenging secondary market conditions”.

What it called “continuing political and economic uncertainty” and “persistently low levels of national housing transactions and a declining consumer confidence” were hitting transaction levels.