Why now is a good time to move

Last week, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng increased the point at which Stamp Duty is charged on property sales from £125,000 to £250,000 for home buyers. The threshold for first-time buyers will increase from £300,000 to £425,000 and can be used on purchases worth up to £625,000. Mr Kwarteng’s announcement means that the stamp duty bill on an average £312,000 home in England will fall from £5,600 to £3,100 – a drop of 80 percent.

Andrews’ Commercial Director, David Powell, said “These are welcome moves in the market, which will likely increase the number of transactions immediately based on the volume of transactions we witnessed when Stamp Duty was last reduced. The immediate application of the new rates, will also benefit anyone currently in a chain as well as first-time buyers looking to get on the ladder.”

It is estimated that the cuts will lift 200,000 homebuyers every year out of paying the tax altogether.

Alongside this, addressing the lack of property supply in the UK, the government will bring forward a bill “to unpick the complex patchwork of planning restrictions and EU derived laws that constrain our growth” and promised to release more Government land to support housebuilding and to remove planning restrictions to boost supply.

Based on the high level of transactions during 2021, before the closing of the previous Stamp Duty window, these moves are likely to increase the volume of stock in the market and drive transactions based on the level of demand seen since the pandemic as people’s housing priorities have changed. This will likely keep house prices on an upward trajectory, albeit stabilised by inflationary pressure and affordability.

These types of decisions always bring more property to market, so if you are looking to move now’s a great time to get speaking to our agents and mortgage advisers to see what this means for you, how much you may be able to borrow and what your next move could look like.