House sales rise in August

August saw house sales rise by 15.6% across the UK, after the Government introduced a temporary stamp duty holiday, HMRC figures have revealed. The tax break, which will last until March 31^st 2021, saw an estimated 81,280 sales take place in August and also helped to protect nearly 750,000 jobs in the housing sector and wider supply chain. However, transactions were still down by 16.3% compared with the same month in 2019, figures show. Economists still expect house prices to fall between 3%-5% this year. Weak growth and unemployment rising to between 7%-12% this year is likely to weigh on demand. Joshua Elash, director of property lender MT Finance, said: “The significant rise in house sales in August compared with the previous month reflects a positive response to the Chancellor's stamp duty initiative in the short term but, sadly, it is not sustainable.”

Daily Mail (22/09/2020) Yorkshire Post (22/09/2020)   The Times (22/09/2020)