This week has seen the Conveyancing Association join the Society of Licensed Conveyancers in appealing to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, to reverse the housing market reforms that were planned an implemented under the previous Chancellor, George Osbourne. These included the Stamp Duty Land Tax 3% increase on second homes, which the association believes has failed in its purpose to open up the market for first time buyers.
The chairman of the Conveyancing Association has spoken out against the increase, saying that since the tax was implemented the market has “seen rather more than a traditional, seasonal housing market drop-off over the summer”. Buy-to-let activity has slumped over the summer and the SDLT hike is thought to be the reason behind it, although there are other factors such as the uncertainty surrounding Brexit that should be taken into consideration for slowing the market. The chairman went on point out the 19% month on month fall in borrowing to first time buyers, stating these figures are “hardly renaissance in the first time buyer activity we were led to believe would result from buy-to-let activity being forced downwards”.
In February of this year, The Society of Licensed Conveyancers pointed out that this tax would be likely to cause delays to property transactions, which would go against the then Governments intent to speed up the conveyancing process takes. The SLC also submitted its concerns during the consultation period so perhaps the likelihood of the new chancellor taking these points into consideration will improve now that more associations are involved.
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