Last month saw a fall in property supply for more than half of towns and cities in the UK, the latest data from House Simple has revealed.

The falls in towns and cities comes despite an overall supply gaining 4.8%, with the report showing biggest falls in supply in Loughborough and Southport.

In these towns, the supply of new property listings went down by 24.1% and 28% respectively and of all the areas that saw the biggest falls in supply, almost half (47%) were in the North of England.

On the other end of the scale, Lichfield in the West Midlands saw an unprecedented increase of 55.8% for its new property listings last month compared to April, while Rugby and Chesterfield saw increases of 32.5% and 35.7% respectively.

The most positive news from the research came in the Midlands, as a third of towns and cities that saw the biggest increases in supply came there.

London saw an overall decrease in supply, however 53% of the 32 London boroughs saw supply increases in May, with Waltham Forest leading the way with a 31% month on month increase after an 8% rise in April.

Merton was the second best performing borough, with a 30% supply increase last month, following April’s 15% rise.

House Simple’s CEO, Alex Gosling, said that despite an increase in property supply in May, vast areas of the country saw a fall in the number of new properties listed.

Some have suggested that this may be down to the economic uncertainty surrounding the EU referendum, with scare tactics used by both sides of the debate resulting in a lack of confidence from both sellers and buyers.

As a result, the current period that usually sees a significant amount of activity in the property market may now see a drop in market activity due to the Brexit vote in three weeks.