The phased end of the government’s Stamp Duty holiday from 1 July meant that the maximum saving fell to £2,500 from £15,000 in England. Those that fail to complete by the end of September now risk having to pay up to £12,500 extra to secure their property, and that is why revised offers are already starting all around the country, explains Ossie Swaine, Partner and Residential Property Team Leader, at solicitors Bishop & Sewell.
Estate agents Knight Frank expect that a number of previously accepted offers on properties will be renegotiated. Similarly anyone wanting to buy a property might reasonably expect the seller to lower their asking price – if they want to make a quick sale this summer.
They go on to say that they expect Stamp Duty to continue to distort normal patterns of housing market activity in the second half of this year – more than other years.
Residential property prices had already increased by an average of £10,246 per property over the past 12 months, according to Zoopla’s latest house price index.
The large hike in prices moved 1.8 million properties into a higher Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) bracket. According to Zoopla’s data UK property prices saw their largest increase in value since October 2016. Demand is still 55% higher than the average recorded in the more “normal market” of 2019.
Quoted here, Rob Gill, managing director of broker Altura Mortgage Finance, says, “The scramble to save up to £15,000 in cold hard cash has, unsurprisingly, injected pure rocket fuel into the market”
Kate Eales, head of regional estate agency at Strutt & Parker, says here: “Time to sell has roughly halved since 2019 despite the Stamp Duty holiday extension coming to an end. In the past, properties that may have taken weeks to go under offer are now taking just days and we are seeing, in some of the hottest markets, properties going to best and final offers.”
In my view while of course while these top performing regions may continue in their growth, they have had historically lower average house prices compared to London, for example.
Despite the Stamp Duty holiday coming to an end, lifestyle changes during the past year are still a driving force in the market. There is no reason to suspect their will be a ‘cliff edge’ fall in prices, it’s just an opportunity to seize the moment, and strike a harder bargain.
Ossie Swaine deals with all aspects of residential conveyancing, including sales, purchases and re-mortgages of freehold and leasehold property. If you would like to discuss any of the points raised in this article, please do get in contact on Tel: +44 (0)20 707 9242 or Email: [email protected]
About Bishop & Sewell LLP
Bishop & Sewell is a long-established, full service Central London law firm – with an international reach – specialising in Personal, Property and Commercial legal matters. To learn more, visit www.bishopandsewell.co.uk