With the government’s stamp duty holiday set to end in just over 5 months, there is still time to sell and buy before the March deadline – but only just.
Stamp duty is suspended on the first £500,000 of all property sales in England and Northern Ireland, saving buyers £15,000 if they are purchasing a property with a purchase price of £500,000 or more.
Property transactions must be completed by 31st March 2021 to qualify which means the next couple of weeks are critical for anyone considering a move within this period.
March may sound a long way off but the impact of local lockdowns on local authority searches and legal conveyancing means everything is taking longer than usual. Add to that the fact that the property market is busy at the moment and it’s easy to see why organisations like NAEA Propertymark have been encouraging sellers to go to market sooner rather than later.
Current data shows that the time between going to market and receiving an offer is around ten weeks. Add to this the fact that arranging a mortgage can take up to six weeks and the legal process typically spans a similar length of time and it’s easy to see why the experts recommend a minimum of 20 weeks between putting your house on the market and moving into your new place.
Of course, the moving process doesn’t always go smoothly and there are other things you can do to make sure things go according to plan.
- Instruct a good local estate agent. Here at FSS we pride ourselves on providing an accurate valuation to generate interest and achieve the best possible price. You can book a free valuation of your home here.
- Scout out a good solicitor in advance. Ask for reviews and check their typical turnaround time as well as their prices. Having a solicitor lined up before you receive an offer will mean you’re one step ahead. Find out how digitally savvy they are too. If they can do the majority of the paperwork online, the whole process will be much quicker.
- Get a mortgage offer in principle before you start to offer on properties. That way your offer is more likely to be accepted and mortgage approval should be faster.
- Check that your estate agent has a good reputation for sale progression. Our experienced sales team at FSS keeps in touch with all parties, including solicitors and buyers, to make sure everyone is working towards the same deadlines. If you have ever moved house before, you’ll know how easy it is for things to fall apart at this stage. Find out why people choose FSS to sell their home. You can also read some of our customer feedback here.
If you are keen to sell your home and move before the stamp duty holiday ends on 31st March 2021, call our team on 01423 501211 (option 3) to find out how we can help.