Following calls from property industry professionals to extend the stamp duty holiday past March 31st, Rishi Sunak announced that it would be extended until the end of June in the budget to the relief of lots of buyers and sellers eager to complete transactions. The Chancellor also announced that the threshold would decrease to £250,000 until the end of September before returning to the normal level of £125,000.
Since the initial announcement of the stamp duty holiday last July, which saw the busiest day last year on 8th July, the UK property market has gone into overdrive, with thousands more buyers and sellers in the marketplace than the previous year. The stamp duty holiday applies to buyers buying a home up to the value of £500,000. If you’re thinking about selling a property then time is of the essence because of the number of people requiring the services of the array of different professional services in the property industry.
RightMove’s stats show that it’s taking on average 65 days to find a buyer and 126 days to completion after going through the legal protocols, so the sooner the better to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday.
A rush of new buyers into the marketplace again is inevitable, especially because of the introduction of 5% deposits. There’s also a lot of appetite to buy and sell in spring, with a view to moving in lighter, warmer months and in time for a summer in a new property and the added benefit of working around school holidays and the extra time that can bring to get house moving organised and running smoothly.
The new announcements will have pushed people into the market that were on the fence about buying beforehand, so there are lots of new opportunities for fresh eyes in the marketplace – especially if you’ve been struggling to sell before or have had lots of viewings and interest, but no firm offers.
New 5% deposits and the stamp duty extension help to give a lot of people some extra certainty that they were looking for before taking the plunge into the property market. It also gives professional services in the property industry the clarity to expand or improve their offering during this time as they know there will be another surge of demand and their services will be required more.
First-time buyers will be entering the marketplace and there will also be extra buyers who have had time over the most recent lockdown to reassess what they want from a property or their life in general. Some potential buyers might have had some revelations but thought it was too late to buy before the 31st March deadline, so there will now be the extra encouragement to look for properties that suit some of the new aspirations and interests acquired during the last lockdown.
For lots more information and advice regarding selling your property, look no further than Home EA – we’re on hand to help, get in touch today.
