The government should think about making the stamp duty relief for properties below £500,000 permanent as signs show the tax break has provided an “additional boost of activity” to the housing market, Knight Frank has suggested.
The real estate firm said the residential property market was “as robust as it has been for many years” as it analysed the impact the announcement of the stamp duty holiday had on the sector.
According to Knight Frank, the number of new prospective buyers for properties valued at less than £1.5m doubled between 8 July – when the stamp duty holiday was announced – and 3 August.
During the same period, the number of new buyers seeking properties worth more than £1.5m increased by 70 per cent.
The firm found the number of offers accepted in UK markets between 8 July and 3 August was 146 per cent above the five-year average for properties valued at less than £1.5m, and above that value, the increase was 71 per cent.
Knight Frank also said the number of viewings grew for properties valued at less than £1.5m, rising 46 per cent compared to the five-year average. Above £1.5m, the increase was 13 per cent.
When asked by Mortgage Solutions, Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, did not disclose the actual figures but said the increases were not “small or inflated”.
Bill said: “The holiday, it must be concluded, is working. Whether it should become a permanent arrangement is something the government should consider.”
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
Follow her on Twitter at @ShekinaMS
