What’s the Spring Budget going bring to the North West property market?

Well, it appears to be ‘steady as she goes’ for the North West property market following the Budget speech earlier this week, however our CEO Colin Mellor believes the Chancellor missed a trick.

Colin explained: “The fundamentals remain the same. Low interest rates and relatively low inflation make for stability however the Chancellor could have used this opportunity to change the rules on Stamp Duty.

“We believe it would make a big difference if the Stamp Duty burden was moved to the seller instead of the buyer. Buyers are burdened with having to find both the deposit and Stamp Duty. The seller already has the equity in the house.

“The reality is that when the buyer makes the offer they are factoring in the cost of Stamp Duty. Both parties usually pay for it in terms of reduced offers made to the seller

“Current arrangements mean that it takes longer for the buyer to raise the funds and subsequently come to the market. It slows the market down,” concluded Colin.

So, what does the Budget really mean for the Housing Market?