Furthermore, the firm increased team size by 25% this year, to facilitate the increase in sales since lockdown restrictions in March 2020. Yet, what would another full-scale lockdown bring for the housing market?
Dev Malle, Chief Business Development Officer, My Home Move Conveyancing says:
“Business is up year on year and that’s mostly clients coming to us keen and ready to instruct and get moving on their transaction, demonstrating the hunger and urgency in the market.
We’ve increased our team size by 25% this year in order to service the number of clients coming to us – all full time, permanent staff. This is really positive news in an uncertain economy and is partly driven by the market surge and partly by consumers preferring a digital solution – especially with Coronavirus restrictions.”
The recent announcement from the UK Prime Minster regarding the introduction of a 5% deposit scheme, could improve a first time buyer’s chance to get on the property ladder. However, it appears unlikely that this will go ahead until 2023. Therefore, Stamp Duty Land Tax holiday remains as the main appeal for first time buyers in 2020, up until the holiday ends in March 2021. This ultimately means that anyone buying a home worth up to £500,000 between now and March 2021 will not have to pay any stamp duty on their purchase.
Dev Malle comments further:
“We welcome action from the Government to support first time buyers getting onto the property ladder – especially those who have managed to save a deposit but then found the 90% and 95% mortgages disappearing this year. It’s likely to be a tricky period as we face into an economic downturn.”
My Home Move Conveyancing also commented that a full-scale lockdown would be devastating for the economy and potentially the housing market. Especially because those depending on the huge savings afforded by the Stamp Duty Land Tax holiday, may find their moves slowed by the COVID restrictions pushing them close to the March 2021 deadline.
However, My Home Move Conveyancing remained operational throughout the last full-scale UK lockdown in March, and even experienced the surge of sales and new hires. According to official government guidance potential buyers are ‘free to move home’ during a lockdown. It is advised to also check local lockdown rules. On top of this, the process of moving home has changed, with most of the process being carried out online.
Moreover, My Home Move Conveyancing recently carried out a survey with 1,500 home buyers and discovered that more people from across the UK are interested in buying properties with a large outdoor space – 58% classed this as their most important factor. Other elements, such as having a garden shed and an office were also considered important. These are likely to be newly important factors due to COVID restrictions.
