After an extended period of relief and a gradual tapering off, the Stamp Duty holiday has now officially come to an end.
Our team have been extremely busy in the run up to the 30th September deadline; working flat out to ensure that as many clients as possible completed on their purchases before full rates for Stamp Duty resumed.
After such a busy period of time, the big question is – what will happen next?
The property market in the local area has seen many of the trends that have been reported nationally – with moves being brought forward due to the pandemic effect and the race for space, the price of properties increasing at higher than normal rates and demand outstripping supply.
It’s worth noting that the property market in our locality was strong prior to the pandemic, and there’s no reason to think that this will change drastically with the end of the Stamp Duty holiday. Saddleworth has many advantages for potential buyers – being semi-rural, near the Pennines and yet with easy access to Manchester and Leeds.
Those that want to move house will still go ahead with their purchases, although perhaps now they will be able to do so in a less heated market. Other benefits that may come with the end of the Stamp Duty holiday may be shorter completion times – with fewer transactions going through the system, the backlog with mortgage companies and the Land Registry may be reduced, allowing for things to speed up.
At O’Donnell Solicitors, one area that we specialise in is new build property and with a new version of the Help to Buy scheme brought in earlier this year, we are seeing a steady flow of first time buyers coming through. First-time buyers do not pay Stamp Duty on properties under £300,000, so the ending of Stamp Duty relief will have little impact in many cases. We are continuing to work closely with local housebuilders and developers as a recommended supplier of conveyancing services to their clients. The benefits of using us as a conveyancing solicitor when buying a new build is that we are familiar with the tight timescales required, have a great deal of experience in navigating the issues that may come up with a new build purchase and in many cases, we have good working relationships with the developers themselves; altogether allowing for a smoother process.
All of our team, including director Claire Egerton, and Julian, live locally and have the benefit of local knowledge to pass on to clients. Saddleworth is home to lots of quirky, unusual properties both in terms of design and age. This can give rise to unusual titles and other legal issues that experience of dealing with transactions in the area means we are familiar with – such as flying freeholds, common yards and passageways, septic tanks, and leaseholds.
For any further advice or to enquire about our conveyancing services, please contact us on 01457 761320.
