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Expectations that Chancellor Rishi Sunak will announce a Stamp Duty holiday today as part of his mini-budget are not only high but near cast in concrete. The plans potentially involve raising the Stamp Duty threshold at which buyers start to pay the levy from its current £125,000 up to £500,000.
After a decades-long housing crisis the current levers in place are clearly not working sufficiently anymore. Overhauling the planning system could deliver higher quality homes and rapidly increase the volume of genuinely affordable options built each year.
Record numbers of Londoners have registered their interest in properties for both sale and rent outside of the city as the lockdown impacts on the residential and lifestyle priorities of the capital’s denizens.
A Reuters poll of property market analysts published yesterday reported that house prices are anticipated to fall by 5% this year, but the much bigger issue is the decimation of almost 90% of the first-time buyer mortgage market, as many lenders withdraw their 90-95% loan-to-value products.
Over recent decades the affordability gap for property buyers has on average continued to stretch as house prices increase, and the inequalities that could deepen as a result of the coronavirus pandemic may lead to greater financial hurdles for many. So how can affordability improve?
According to the latest Nationwide House Price Index, house prices decreased 1.7% in May over the previous month, the largest monthly fall since February 2009 following the 2007-08 Financial Crisis. But look at the bigger picture and the signs of an upturn seem even more evident.
A recent survey found that two-thirds of estate agents want to go self-employed or work from home. But as a historically brick and mortal industry, how does this shift in industry sentiment reflect upon the future for property agents and consumers?
The impact of COVID-19 on the housing market as a whole, and on the buying power of first-time buyers specifically, cannot be understated, but I believe there are some firm solutions that could provide them with a vital leg up.
How might buyer and seller priorities change post-COVID? It’s an interesting question with potentially widespread implications for the housing market as many homeowners and prospective buyers start to revaluate both what they want, and what they need, from their living arrangements.
The government has today announced their plans for restarting the housing market effective immediately, amending coronavirus regulations and issuing new guidance confirming that private residential buyers and renters in England are now able to take part in viewings and move home.