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The UK property market appears to be stabilising after a frantic 15 months, and the stamp duty holiday is finally coming to an end this month. Read on to find out more, with some of September’s key headlines: Stamp Duty Holiday To End The tax holiday on stamp duty will finally draw to a close at the end of September in England and Northern Ireland after 15 months. The scheme was introduced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in July 2020 to stimulate the housing market following the first national lockdown and is widely considered to have been a great success. House prices have rocketed, and demand has soared thanks to the tax break, which meant savings of up to £15,000 for buyers. Initially, the holiday allowed buyers to avoid stamp duty on properties up to £500,000. This was then lowered to £250,000 earlier this year, and from 1st October it will be axed completely, with stamp duty payable on all properties over £125,000 as the UK economy continues to bounce back post-pandemic. Rents Outside London Rising At Fastest Rate For 13 Years Leading property website Zoopla has reported a significant rise in rental prices across the UK, with prices increasing at their highest rate since 2008. Their data indicates that rental prices have risen by 5% on average in the 12 months to the end of July, meaning renters are forking out an extra £456 a year on average. The trend doesn’t apply to London though, with average rental prices in the capital actually falling 3.8% as renters moved away from the city during the peak of the pandemic. Government To Spend £8.6bn on 119,000 Affordable Homes The UK government has announced a new funding package to help thousands of people get on to the property ladder. Approximately 119,000 new homes are to be built, with 57,000 available to buy, and just under 30,000 available for social rent. The scheme has been confirmed in response to the growing trend of demand outstripping supply, which has pushed prices up to unaffordable levels for many would-be buyers, as the government looks to redress the balance. Top 5 Hotspots For Sellers Revealed A study by leading property website Rightmove has revealed the top five property hotspots for sellers. With demand for homes far outweighing supply, some towns across the UK have become hotspots, with more buyers on the market than at any time in the past 10 years. Newmarket in Suffolk tops the hotspot list. The market town that’s synonymous with horse racing has seen the number of homes available for sale drop by 49% in the past year, while the number of sales being agreed has gone up 79%. As a result, asking prices have seen a 9% increase since 2019, with average prices now sitting at £320,000. It’s a similar story in the Hertfordshire town of Berkhamsted. The commuter town has seen a 57% drop in the number of properties for sale, with a 59% increase in properties sold. Similarly, prices have increased by 9% since 2019, with the average property now costing a shade over £694,000. The rest of the top five is completed by Witney in Oxfordshire, High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, and St Ives in Cambridgeshire. Perhaps tellingly, all five hotspots are peaceful, countryside locations away from the city centres. Pet-Friendly Rental Homes Increase In Demand A report from national property portal Rightmove has revealed a huge increase in demand for rental properties that accept pets. It’s estimated that over a third of UK households have become pet owners since the first lockdown in March 2020, as furloughed employees and those who are new to working from home picked up pets to keep them company while spending more time indoors. As a result, demand for pet-friendly rental properties has increased by a whopping 120%, with ‘pet-friendly’ and ‘pets allowed’ being the top searches for renters. And in a sign of the changing demands of renters, and especially those with four-legged friends to consider, the next two most popular searches are for balconies and gardens, where demand is up 70% and 39% respectively. Best Value Homes Revealed Property portal Zoopla has revealed the findings of a study that shows where buyers can get the most floor space for their money, and it makes for very interesting reading. Unsurprisingly, London is the least budget-friendly, with homes costing £562 per square foot on average, in stark contrast to the North East, which is the cheapest region at £157 per square foot. In terms of towns, Burnley is the best value place in the UK at £123 per square foot, however, perhaps the most surprising finding in the report is the cost in Kensington and Chelsea, West London. The average cost there is £1,491 per square foot, which means the floor space required for a double bed would set you back an astronomical £46,550!

The UK’s property boom appears to be coming to an end following the winding down of the stamp duty holiday, and the number of properties currently up for sale has fallen to a new low. UK House Sales Fall Dramatically In July The figures are now in and house sales tumbled by a whopping 62% in July, as thousands of buyers rushed to complete their purchases before the stamp duty holiday ended on 30th June. A record 213,370 homes were sold in June, compared with 82,110 in July, as buyers looked to take advantage of a potential £15,000 saving. Although the stamp duty holiday remains in place until the end of September, the threshold has been lowered significantly, with a maximum saving of £2,500 now available to buyers. The scheme was introduced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak to stimulate the housing market at the height of the Coronavirus pandemic, and it’s been largely hailed as a success, with some areas of the country seeing record price rises as demand for new homes soared. Demand for new houses is predicted to remain strong, however, the picture will become clearer over the last few months of the year, with the stamp duty holiday and the furlough scheme for employees coming to a close at the end of September. Housing Shortage Creating a Seller’s Market The number of homes on the market has fallen to its lowest level in more than 6 years, and property experts are forecasting that this will remain the case well into the new year. The stamp duty holiday led to 1 in 20 homes changing hands over the past year, and the number of buyers continues to far outweigh the number of homes for sale. This is particularly good news for sellers, with the buying frenzy leading to bidding wars between buyers, especially on 3 and 4 bedroom family homes, as the shift in working patterns over the past 18 months has led to buyers looking for more space. Stamp Duty Holiday ‘Wasteful’ According To Think Tank While the Chancellor’s stamp duty holiday has largely been heralded as a success that has kept the housing market afloat, a leading think tank has concluded that it’s actually been ‘wasteful’ by the government. The report published by the Resolution Foundation claims that buyer demand, and not the stamp duty holiday has been the driving force behind the surge in house prices this year, fuelled by low interest rates and a shift in circumstances, with many buyers now working from home regularly, and looking for houses with more space. The report goes on to say that the government’s stamp duty holiday has in fact cost them around £4.4bn in lost taxes, and has therefore been ‘wasteful’, given that they believe price rises would have occurred anyway due to increased buyer demand. Winchester Least Affordable UK City To Buy a Home A report by Halifax has revealed that Winchester is now the UK’s least affordable city for buyers, overtaking Oxford in the annual survey. Homes in the Hampshire commuter city cost 14 times the average earnings for buyers, with the average asking price for a house currently standing at £630,000. Oxford isn’t too far behind in the affordability stakes. While the average asking price is lower at £487,000, average earnings are also lower, meaning that houses cost 12.4 times the average earnings for buyers. Londonderry in Northern Ireland is the most affordable city for a third consecutive year, with homes costing 4.7 times the average earnings for buyers. What You Can Buy For The Average Asking Price In Every Region A recent study by leading property website Rightmove has revealed what buyers can get for the average asking price in each region. The national average is currently £337,371, with London unsurprisingly being the highest-priced region. In fact, the difference between the capital and the lowest price region – the North East, is an enormous £470,000. The average asking price in the capital is currently £635,000, which according to the report, will get you a three-bedroom Edwardian terraced house in West Ealing. Meanwhile, for the North East’s average asking price of £165,000, you can purchase a modern, three-bedroom semi-detached house in Sunderland. The largest house relative to its asking price is in Yorkshire, where a five-bedroom, three-storey end-of-terrace cottage in Huddersfield can be snapped up for just over £210,000. For more property news and updates and a more detailed overview of the South East London and North Kent area, get in touch with James Gorey Estate Agents. We are your local property experts. Call us on 020 3633 9866 or email info@jamesgorey.com.

The South East London and North Kent property market is continuing to enjoy a boom, with prices also reaching record highs nationwide. With demand far outweighing supply, many buyers are increasingly paying more to secure their dream properties. Read on to find out more, with some of July’s key headlines across the UK property market: UK Prices Reach Record High In Buying Frenzy The average asking price of a UK home has reached a new high according to the property website Rightmove. Figures that are due to be released shortly will show a new peak, surpassing the previous record that was set back in May. Rightmove also confirmed that the first six months of 2021 have been their busiest since 2000 as buyers rushed to complete their purchases before the phasing out of the stamp duty holiday. The pricing boom has partly been caused by a shortfall in properties on the market. Rightmove confirmed that 140,000 more sales were agreed in the first half of the year than the long term average, however, there were 85,000 fewer new listings, leading to a shortfall of 225,000 properties, which has put sellers in the driving seat when it comes to negotiating as demand for properties continues to outweigh supply. Stamp Duty Holiday Winds Down The government’s stamp duty holiday is now winding down. The scheme, which was introduced to stimulate the housing market during the Coronavirus pandemic has been an overwhelming success, with savings of up to £15,000 for some buyers. That saving has now ended, however, buyers can still save up to £2,500 on stamp duty if they complete before the 30th September. And the housing market is expected to remain strong, despite the ending of the stamp duty holiday. Biggest Rent Rises In Coastal And Commuter Towns Property website Rightmove has announced the towns and cities with the highest rent increases in the past year with coastal and commuter towns seeing the biggest jump. Rochdale, Farnham and Folkestone have all seen average rents increase by more than 25% as tenants look for more space away from the major cities. However, the recent easing of Covid restrictions has also seen some of the UK’s major cities begin to make a comeback, with renters looking to move back to city life. Prices have risen 6.8% in Nottingham, and 3.8% in Liverpool compared to a year ago, however, in London and Edinburgh, rents are still lower than 12 months ago, at 6.8% and 4% respectively. Self-Employed and Furloughed Workers Refused Mortgages Over Covid Grants Self-employed people who have received government grants during the pandemic are being refused mortgages by many high street banks. NatWest and the Royal Bank of Scotland have confirmed they’re not accepting applications from anyone who applied for a self-employment income support grant after 14th July 2020, while employed people who have been on furlough are also not having their applications accepted by many major lenders. Self-employed workers are also being asked to come up with a higher deposit by some of the major high street banks. Metro Bank has confirmed that a deposit of at least 20% is required, while Santander wants a minimum of 25% before lending to self-employed workers. It’s not all doom and gloom though as interest rates remain low! The North West Continues To Lead The Housing Boom Prices in the North West of England have risen by more than 15% over the past year, making it the area that’s seen the biggest increase across the UK. Wales and Scotland aren’t far behind, having seen 10%+ increases too, but London has seen the smallest rise in prices, at an average of 5.2%, as buyers have increasingly looked to move away from the city to find more affordable properties with additional space. Some Homebuyers Still Face Lengthy Search Delays Homebuyers in some areas are still facing lengthy delays for council land searches. Increased demand has left some buyers facing an average wait time of 55 days for searches to be completed when the target is 10 days. Conveyancers and local councils are playing catch-up after the stamp duty holiday rush. If you are considering buying or selling, James Gorey Estate Agents are your local property experts for the South East London and North Kent area. Call us on 020 3633 9866 or email info@jamesgorey.com to chat with a member of our friendly and experienced team.