March 2021

Data from Rightmove suggests a sharp increase in the number of chain-free properties on the market because sellers are increasingly willing to rent before their next purchase. The portal says 21 per cent of the available properties it lists are now chain-free, a jump from around 15 per cent this… Read More »Chain-free properties boom as sellers rent ahead of next move

The stamp duty holiday frenzy has reduced the gap between asking and sale prices according to new research. Before the start of the holiday last summer, asking prices averaged £277,104 but buyers actually paid £248,102 – a 10.5 per cent difference. But the rush to take advantage of the stamp… Read More »Asking price/Sold price gap narrows thanks to stamp duty holiday

Another house price index shows a super-charged housing market with prices rising 7.5 per cent in the year to January according to the Office for National Statistics.Prices rose most starkly in Wales, up 9.6 per cent, followed by England on 7.5 per cent, Scotland at 6.9 per cent and Northern… Read More »Turbo-charged housing market – prices still rising 7.5% a year

A quarter of agents say they intend to recruit new staff in the next 12 months, following on from the surge in business thanks to the Stamp Duty holiday and other government incentives. One in 10 say they are going to employ two or more new members of staff. Some… Read More »Quarter of agents set to recruit within the next year

An estate agency has apologised unreservedly for “most regrettable” comments made by two members of staff who described a vendor’s property as “disgusting.” The Daily Mail has run a story saying that a home security camera in a room in the property at Ramsgate, Kent, caught the two agents –… Read More »Agents caught on camera – they call vendor’s house “disgusting”

Agents in England are told that sellers should market their homes by March 23 – only 18 days from now – if they want to be sure of completing to benefit from the extended stamp duty holiday. Rightmove says that currently the average time for a seller to find a buyer… Read More »Stamp Duty deadline – here’s the last date to market a property in time

Labour says Chancellor Rishi Sunak “will give away half a billion pounds to second homeowners and landlords through the stamp duty holiday extension.” Thangam Debbonaire, the party’s Shadow Housing Secretary, says: “The Conservatives have shown once again they have the wrong priorities, giving tax breaks to landlords and second homeowners while… Read More »Labour attacks stamp duty break as “a half billion pounds giveaway”