Is it a good time to move home?
The clock is ticking on the stamp duty holiday introduced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak and with each day that passes from now until the deadline on 31st March 2021 the risk increases of home movers incurring an unexpected tax bill, so is it a good time to move home?
According to Rightmove analysis it currently takes 126 days from point of an offer being accepted through to completion, just over four months. Which means that in every likelihood, if you are putting your property on the market today in order to benefit from the stamp duty holiday and hoping to move before the deadline the odds are against you. Unless the holiday is extended, which there have been some significant calls for. One example of the growing pressure is this petition which at time of writing had exceeded the necessary target of 100,000 (by more than 13,000 signatures and still growing) to be debated in parliament, you can see the petition here; (https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/550545).
Nitesh Patel, Strategic Economist at the Yorkshire Building Society has called for a stamp duty taper, he had this to say in a recent report published by Yorkshire Building Society “we support a three-month stamp duty taper – a period of grace which would allow any property sales which have been agreed and have secured a mortgage approval by 31 March until 30 June 2021 to complete their transaction with stamp duty reduction benefit. The grace period would exclude new mortgage commitments approved after 31 March 2021 and they would not be entitled to a reduction”.
See the article in full here https://www.ybs.co.uk/media-centre/stamp-duty-taper2/index.html
Nitesh added, “This is already likely to be a very busy period for lenders and other professionals involved in the house sale process. Social distancing measures are likely to still be in place, which will make it more challenging to move at speed. As well as helping buyers, we think this is a sensible approach which will ease the pressures likely to build on lenders and the rest of the residential property industry immediately before the deadline. This solution would be help to give everyone involved a better outcome and help more people to have a place to call home.”
There is good news for First time buyers though, as announced by the Government in a statement regarding the stamp duty holiday, “The Government is committed to supporting home ownership and helping people get on and move up the housing ladder. When the SDLT Holiday ends, the Government will maintain a SDLT relief for first time buyers which increases the starting threshold of residential SDLT to £300,000 for first-time buyers that purchase a property below £500,000. In addition, a new Help to Buy scheme will be introduced from 1 April 2021. This scheme will run until March 2023.” (SDLT = stamp duty land tax)
Beside the Stamp Duty holiday deadline, for a lot of people right now there is another major consideration, COVID-19. Is it currently safe to view a property, or indeed to have someone into your property to view?
As reported by Propertyindustryeye.co.uk “Government figures said that ministers were “absolutely determined” to keep open the property market during the current lockdown.
“The housing market is staying open,” said one aide. “All involved need to follow the guidance for moving home safely which has been issued by the government.”
The chancellor Rishi Sunak is said to be among those reluctant to agree to closing the housing market in light of the threat to the economy and the huge cost of furlough.
A close ally of Mr Sunak said he is determined to keep the housing market operational during the pandemic.
But a spokesperson for the prime minister Boris Johnson declined to rule out new restrictions for the housing market, construction or manufacturing.
“If we believe there is a need to take further action we will,” the spokesperson said.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, told Conservative members this week that he did not want to shut down the housing market but could not rule it out.”
Full article: https://propertyindustryeye.com/the-government-is-absolutely-determined-to-keep-the-housing-market-open/
Whilst the housing market does stay open demand is high, Rightmove reported in their recent House Price Index report that enquires during January were up 33% year on year from January 2020 with properties receiving 3x the enquiries than this time last year. With demand currently being so high, now could be an excellent time to find a buyer should you be considering a move. We offer a range of valuation services from an instant online valuation, a telephone/video consultation, or an (COVID-19 safe) valuation in your home, to book an appointment visit our site www.wesoldit.co.uk or call us on 01296 761 331.
Should I sell my home now or wait until after lockdown?
This is a question we are getting asked a lot at the moment. First and foremost, you need to make sure you are protecting anyone vulnerable in your household. In this situation you might decide to wait until anyone vulnerable living with you has received a COVID-19 vaccination.
In line with Government guidelines, we are open and fully operational, and will remain open to help sellers and buyers continue, or to begin the house moving process.
We have strict social distancing and hygiene measures in place and will continue to carry out our strict COVID-19 protocol.
We have a series of steps in place to protect our sellers, viewers, and agents:
- Agents and viewers always wear a mask.
- Agents and viewers use hand sanitizer before entering your property.
- Viewers are prohibited from touching doors, handles and cupboards etc.
- Agents will wipe down doors, handles and cupboards immediately after viewing.
- Viewers are restricted to 2 adults only.
- We ask viewers standardised questions as set out by the government to rule out anyone displaying symptoms of COVID-19 (we will temperature check viewers prior to entering your property if necessary)
What we ask from our sellers:
- We ask all sellers to wipe down doors, handles and cupboards before the viewing
- We ask that all doors are left open to prevent the need for the agent to touch anything
- We ask you to leave your property for the duration of the viewing
What valuation options do I have?
- You can book us to visit your property for a face-to-face market appraisal (COVID-19 protocols in place) with our expert who has 20 years’ experience of selling properties in Aylesbury.
- You can book a telephone and/or video call consultation with our expert who has 20 years’ experience of selling properties in Aylesbury.
- You can use our instant, online valuation tool; https://valuation.wesoldit.co.uk/home/2809
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to get in touch.
If you are thinking of selling and would like to arrange a free, no obligation market appraisal contact us today!
Our Core objectives:
To offer the best in available marketing to help your property achieve the best possible price.
To provide seamless communication throughout the process.
To SAVE you money! We are on average up to 50% cheaper than other high Streets!
We would love to help you get moving, if you have any question please do not hesitate to get in touch!
The We SOLD It Team
