Stand by for the understatement of the year from us, at Saxon Kings. The past year has been extraordinary – not just in our corner of Kingston Upon Thames, but across the UK and the world. We’re talking Covid 19 of course.
New terms entered our daily vernacular – Working From Home, furlough and bounce back loans. The global pandemic threatened to derail lives and businesses, which it did do. The housing market, looking from our perspective as leading Kingston estate agents, was similarly perilous.
But.
House prices have accelerated during the past year and that is due in some part to the relaxation of Stamp Duty Land Tax in England.
If you’re bought a property in recent years, you’ll probably know that SDLT is applied to property purchases with buyers having to stump up thousands of pounds, on top of the agreed buying price.
The levy raises over £12 billion per annum for the Exchequer so for the Chancellor to pause it was a financially risky move for the government’s revenue scheme.
We serve property buyers and sellers in an area of high prices, as cited by Rightmove:
Properties in Kingston Upon Thames had an overall average price of £753,114 over the last year.
The majority of sales in Kingston Upon Thames during the last year were flats, selling for an average price of £434,351. Semi-detached properties sold for an average of £808,773, with terraced properties fetching £730,992.
That Stamp Duty holiday, introduced by Rishi Sunak, has led to higher price growth and greater demand. In fact, according to Nationwide, average sold prices across the UK are 7.1% higher than a year ago.
But the SDLT is due to end on 30th June 2021 with a staggered return to previous rates.
Properties costing up to £500,000 (apartments in our patch) have had zero stamp duty for buyers, but from 1st October 2021 (at the time of writing), properties between £250,001 and £925,000 will incur a 5% stamp duty payment (£15,000 on a property selling for £500,000) and 10% for those in the £925,000 to £1,500,000 bracket with 12% for those above £1,500,000.
The government have partially mitigated with the news that first time buyers won’t pay stamp duty on property purchases of up to £300,000 – which few will benefit from in Kingston Upon Thames.
There is another carrot though of mortgages with just a 5% deposit. That £500,000 purchase would require £25,000 as a deposit and with borrowing rates at historic lows, mortgage repayments may be lower than renting.
At Saxon Kings, we have seen higher than usual property marketing activity in the past year and we’re certain that the measures introduced in Whitehall have helped.
No one has a crystal ball, but we do expect house prices to continue to grow, perhaps at a slower rate than in the past year and the end of the SDLT holiday may curb enthusiasm amongst buyers in the short to medium term but we’d still anticipate capital growth in KT postcodes in the next 12 months and beyond.
If you’re looking to buy, let or sell, we would recommend that you talk to us. We are an independent, trusted estate agency whose services are bespoke. We are “not your typical estate agent”.
Contact us today.