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Chancellor Rishi Sunak is reportedly considering a six-week extension to the stamp duty holiday. The current tax cut is due to end on March 31 but many campaigners and industry insiders have called for the holiday to be extended in light of the latest lockdown and the extended furlough scheme. Mr Sunak is said to be considering the extension to stop buyers from falling into the “completion trap”. A six-week extension would see the deadline moved to mid-May, giving concerned buyers more time to complete sales and alleviate the risk of transactions falling through.
Daily Express (16/02/2021)
In many parts of the country less than half of homes currently for sale are already under offer or sold subject to contract, according to research by data company PropCast. London, where two-thirds of properties for sale are yet to receive an offer, is currently the worst place to be selling a home. In Cumbria, Lancashire, Lincolnshire and Tyne and Wear less than half of properties on the market are under offer or sold subject to contract. PropCast said: “As more and more home buyers realise they are going to miss the March 31 stamp duty deadline, fall throughs and price reductions are going to increase”.
The Daily Telegraph(15/02/2021)
The average house price slipped by 0.3% in January, according to Halifax’s latest house price index, in signs that the property boom could be running out of steam. The building society’s figures marked the biggest monthly fall since April 2020, although typical house prices are still £13,000 higher than a year ago. Across the UK, average property values stood at £251,968 in January. This was a 5.4% annual increase, compared with January 2020. This also compared with 6.0% annual price growth recorded in December. “The average UK house price slipped by 0.3% in January, the biggest monthly fall since April last year. Whilst this pushed the typical property value down to its lowest level since October, at just under £252,000, prices are around £13,000 higher than a year ago,” commented Halifax managing director Russell Galley.
Evening Standard (05/02/2021) The Independent (05/02/2021) Daily Express (05/02/2021)
House prices in London and the Midlands may be heading for a fall because of a "mass exodus" of foreign workers since the pandemic. The UK population may have dropped by up to 2% in the past year as work dried up and foreigners left, with most of the outward migration going from the capital and the Midlands, according to Capital Economics. Andrew Wishart at the consultancy said: "Our analysis suggests that the sudden drop in the population has led to a huge rise in vacancy rates in the London and Midlands rental markets. House prices in those regions are also most at risk, both from the direct reduction in demand from foreign citizens and the risk that landlords respond to higher vacancy rates and lower rents by selling up."
The Times (08/02/2021)
COVID-related construction delays and Brexit red tape mean that thousands of first-time buyers could miss out on the Help to Buy loan scheme, the Times reports. Buyers hoping to use the government programme that gives a 20% interest-free loan to add to their 5% deposit have been told that their homes will not be finished by March 31st. After that date the scheme in England will become tougher with restrictions on who can use it and lower price caps on qualifying properties. Without the 20% loan many buyers will have their mortgage offers withdrawn and could lose thousands of pounds in solicitors' and brokers' fees. Last week the Builders Merchants Federation said that the construction industry was facing a damaging shortage of materials at a time of record demand from buyers before the Help to Buy deadline.
The Times (05/02/2021)
The choice of mortgages increased for the fourth month in a row in February, with the number of deals on the market reaching an 11-month high. Moneyfacts said the 10% deposit bracket experienced the biggest monthly increase in mortgage availability in February. The average “shelf life” that products are remaining on the market for is now 40 days, up from 28 days for the previous three months. Moneyfacts found that 3,215 mortgage deals were available in February – marking the highest number since March 2020. Since October 2020, total product choice has increased by 42% – the largest four-month increase Moneyfacts has recorded since 2007.
The I (08/02/2021)