Conveyancers all over the country are telling me that with the end of the first time buyer stamp duty concession and developers under year end pressure mean that their pipeline of cases are bursting at the seams.
Meanwhile Robin King, Director at Move With Us believes that the Chancellor’s statement fails to tackle first-time buyer crisis, again, commenting:
"This statement was billed to ‘support British families’ yet it failed to address the real issues faced by young families and start tackling the housing crisis.
We welcome any incentives that are offered to first time buyers and the NewBuy and Right to Buy schemes may help to some extent, but yet again, the Chancellor has failed to address the core issues that are affecting young families from being able to move up the property ladder.
It’s the Lenders that hold the keys to unlocking growth in the wider market. The government needs to make it easier on banks to lend and we are disappointed that the Chancellor has not tackled lending practices. Banks are subject to capital adequacy restrictions that are totally inappropriate for the market and where it is in the current cycle. These restrictions, more than any other single measure, are artificially suppressing the number of transactions even further, which is obviously being felt in the wider UK economy".
Incentive schemes should be extended out to all home purchases, not just new homes
"The Government has extended the finance offered to construction companies building new homes and it is anticipated that this will deliver over 3,000 additional homes. This will create more jobs and therefore we will see an increased demand for these types of properties with little more supply.
If the government wants to make a real difference to the property market, incentive schemes should be extended out to all home purchases. As it stands, the NewBuy Guarantee scheme, which provides a mortgage indemnity facility, significantly reduces the deposit needed to buy a home by around 75% and for most people this will be the only way that they can get onto the property ladder. If extended to all homes, the vendor could pay the 3.5% which is currently paid by the new home builder, into an account made available to the mortgage lender".
Budget just shifts Mansion tax burden to properties in London and the Home Counties
"It’s been a long time coming and it’s refreshing to see that the government has finally spotted the loophole and is taking steps to clamp down on tax evaders who have been trying to avoid paying stamp duty by hiding their assets in property shelters. It’s too early to say how much extra revenue for the exchequer this will generate and it begs the question as to just how much those in the North will be affected by this as most £2 million properties are in the South.
The new Stamp Duty Land Tax rate for properties over £2 million, together with the already announced 5% tax on properties over £1 million will generate significant additional revenue for the exchequer. The government should take these funds and look to reinvest in the property market, creating a much needed boost to get young families of Britain moving again."
So at the coal face the rush to exchange and complete everything before the expiry of the deadline continues.
