Stamp duty land tax means taxes owed on the first £500,000 of any property has been scrapped until the end of this month, June 30. The stamp duty holiday was brought in by Chancellor Rishi Sunak as part of an array of measures trying to get the economy rolling again. The stamp duty relief has meant that a number of Brits have saved thousands of pounds on their property if they complete the mortgage process before the June deadline. The stamp duty holiday has seen swathes of prospective buyers saturate the market as they go in for the cash saving bid.
But Covid has inevitably meant less homes are up for sale, leading some experts to predict the UK could have no homes left on the market within just two months.
A boom in property demand coupled with a lack of availability has caused house prices to soar even higher than pre-pandemic levels.
RightMove says house prices jumped almost £7,000 in one month alone this February, reaching an all-time high average of £327,797.
February’s figures mark just the second time in the last five years in which house prices have increased more than two percent in a single month.
House prices are among the highest they’ve ever been right now, but some think they could drop off into next year as the stamp duty holiday comes to an end.
The Centre for Economic and Business Research predicts property prices will plummet 14 percent by the end of 2021 and start of 2022.
Some industry insiders estimate prices will fall after the holiday ends in June, which will only continue until 2022 begins.
Mortgage broker and Online Mortgage Advisor managing director Pete Mugleston said he expects prices to “dip during the summer”.