This week our market research started to chat about the impact that the stamp duty holiday has had on the Lancaster and Morecambe Housing Market.
If you follow our blog, you’ll already know that buyer demand has surged, that homes are selling so much quicker and that property prices have increased by 10.5% in Morecambe and 10.7% in Lancaster over the past 12 months. But what many people don’t realise is the impact this has had on stamp duty receipts.
Many sellers rushed to the market when Rishi Sunak announced the stamp duty holiday and equally there was a lot of pressure from buyers to complete their purchase before the holiday ended!
People wondered had the chancellor got this wrong? After all, he needed to get more taxes in – not give more away. The housing market was already strong, did it really need any help?
What people often forget is that the housing market is closely linked to consumer spending. When house prices go up, homeowners become better off and feel more confident. Some people will borrow more against the value of their home, either to spend on goods and services, renovate their house, supplement their pension, or pay off other debt. People spend money. And the chancellor knows this better than anyone.
The stamp duty holiday gave savings on stamp duty up to a maximum of £15,000. This meant that 600,000 homes (56% of all sales) didn’t pay any stamp duty. They were below the threshold. 54% of property sales though did and this netted the chancellor a whopping £6.6 billion in the first 9 months of 2021. Here are a couple of interesting facts.
- In England, over 25,600 sales have been for £1 million or more, nearly double the 2017-2019 average, no doubt a significant factor.
- 5,500 property sales have been subject to the 2% additional surcharge for overseas purchasers since its introduction in England on April 1st, netting the treasury an additional £44 million in tax.
There is no doubt about it, extra taxes have been collected. Consumer confidence is up. And if you have attempted recently to book a builder, plasterer, handyman or decorator for a job, you’ll have discovered they are crazy busy and fully booked up. Maybe Rishi got this one right!
If you are thinking of moving and live in Lancaster or Morecambe, we would love to chat with you. Call us on 01524 843322.
Thanks for reading
Michelle
Ps. Did you know? We are officially ranked as the No.1 Estate Agent in The UK by The Property Academy in conjunction with Rightmove. Every single estate agent was independently assessed. Read all about it here