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My Home Move completes 6,178 buyer transactions in March

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  • 12/04/2016
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My Home Move completes 6,178 buyer transactions in March
The UK's biggest conveyancer My Home Move (MHM) confirmed it saw 6,178 mover completions to the end of March as buyers rushed to purchase before the Stamp Duty surcharge became law on non-main residences on 1 April.

On the day before the Stamp Duty premium was levied for the first time on 1 April, the firm completed 1210 cases.

Property buyers now face an additional 3% Stamp Duty charge on any properties which are not a main residence on top of the previous tiered tax rate, averaging an extra £6,000 on a £200,000 property.

In the latest in a series of measures aimed to stave off a bubble in the buy-to-let market, the fine detail on the surcharge was only announced two weeks before the deadline adding to market confusion.

Data extrapolated from HMRC figures suggest just two UK conveyancing firms – Countrywide and ONP – completed more cases in the whole of February than MHM on 31 March.

The industry really had to come together in a professional and efficient manner and our teams have been working around the clock, said Dev Malle, group distribution director at MHM.

Malle said following a period where buyers were overbidding or demanding cash-only sales, he expects to see a market lull for two to three months before it picks up again.

“The reason a lot of this was happening was supply shortage. There is still an affordability issue but demand for rental properties is still strong,” he added.

A Countrywide index showed 50% of homes sold in the last two weeks of March were bought by landlords, against 18% in the same period in 2015.

The investor frenzy saw an estimated £28bn worth of home sales completed in March ahead of the deadline, up 76% on the previous year.

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