RICS: Stamp duty holiday helping to lift demand
The stamp duty holiday introduced from the 8th July is helping to lift demand, The RICS UK Residential Market Survey suggests.
On the 8th July, the UK government announced new rules around Stamp Duty. Effectively this was a relaxation of the tax. The RICS Residential market survey recently carried out suggested that the stamp duty holiday would provide a positive impact on private housing market demand using the anecdotal evidence it had collated.
Company Director and Chartered Surveyor Ross Counsell of “Good Move” commented to say “Today’s RICS statistics reveal the UK housing market gained further momentum last month which showcases the ongoing recovery – something we’re all happy to hear after a turbulent few months”.
“We have seen an increase in new buyer queries, as well as a rise in new listings and sales. The measurements employed by the government such as the stamp duty holiday has positively impacted this spike.” “These latest statistics should hopefully help reassure buyers and sellers in the UK that the property market is starting to return to “normal””.
“However, we must not forget that we are now in a recession, therefore we advise buyers who are looking to purchase a home during the recession to thoroughly check out the property before they commit, and ask important questions such as how much work the property may need to ensure they’re protecting their finances and getting the best possible deal”.
“Buyers must not get swept away in a low house price or jump at the first-rate a mortgage lender offers. Purchasing a home during this time is a big decision and one that needs to be thought about carefully.”
If we further delve into some of the numbers you will see that 26% of surveyors expect an increase in net sales, however, 10% expect net sales to reduce as we approach the end of 2020. We can assume that the removal of the current Stamp Duty holiday in March 2021 will most likely account for this feeling. Property Lender “MT Finance” Director, Tomer Aboody, said: “With the stamp duty holiday in place at least until March and hopefully longer, this should help support the housing market to a degree”.
“No doubt there will be some negativity and a potential fall in confidence after government schemes such as furlough have ended but a possible downward trend should be eased by banks already preparing a loss buffer (HSBC), allowing them to work more closely with borrowers who might be struggling with repayments.”
