Search Acumen: Stamp Duty uplift starting to subside

Andy Sommerville, Director at Search Acumen, comments on the publication of the property transactions, which show Stamp Duty uplift starting to subside.

Read the publication of the Monthly property transactions.

“These latest figures show that the uplift the Stamp Duty holiday provided to the property market has waned.

“The fall in monthly transaction volumes can be partly attributed to prospective homeowners realising they are unlikely to capture the savings on offer from the higher Stamp Duty threshold. Property transactions started in the final months of 2020 are unlikely to complete before the March 31 cut off.

“Buyers may have also held off from making big asset purchases due to the extension of national lockdowns intensifying uncertainty over the medium-term economic climate.

“The Government says it is being led by data rather than dates. These figures should feed into that approach and prompt the Chancellor to extend the Stamp Duty holiday beyond the 31 March deadline. Failing to do so could cause a sudden contraction in property transactions, which could trigger a sharp fall in prices.

“The Stamp Duty deadline has put enormous pressure on the conveyancing industry to complete transactions within a very tight window. Moving away from creaking processes and equipping lawyers with the data and technology to fully embrace a digital approach to completing due diligence requirements quickly could help avoid capacity crunches such as these in the future.”

Kindly shared by Search Acumen

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