- Home purchase completion times are rising as the industry struggles to cope with surging demand
- The industry is lobbying for an extension to the 31 March stamp duty deadline
- Mortgage lenders are increasing rates to manage applications
The UK housing market has defied lockdown predictions since restrictions were eased thanks to the release of pent-up demand and July’s stamp duty break. Record levels of sales agreed since July has meant there are 50 per cent more homes progressing through the sales system than this time last year, according to data from Zoopla. Furious demand pushed up UK sales prices by 3 per cent in September, the highest annual growth rate in almost two and a half years, data from the property portal revealed.
Yet the government may have shot itself in the foot by unleashing a short-term tax break to stave off a market slump. As buyers have flooded the market in an attempt to beat the 31 March deadline for various stamp duty and land taxation relief across the four home nations, estate agencies, conveyancers and lenders are struggling to cope with the surge in demand. That has led to longer lead times for deals to complete, leaving some buyers at risk of missing out on potential savings.