Data from a new report by the National Association of Estate Agents showed that buy-to-let investors saturated the market during February.
According to the figures, 85% of estate agents saw a rise in the number of investors coming into the market in the last month. This was due to savvy investors looking to beat the additional stamp duty charges on buy-to-let and second homes, which come into force this Friday (April 1st).
Changes
The Chancellor made the announcement for stamp duty on additional homes and buy-to-let purchases in last year’s Autumn Statement. As a result, 72% and 85% of agents respectively recorded an increase in activity during January and February.
This surge from buy-to-let investors saw housing demand rise to its highest level for 12 years in the last month. On average, there were 463 house hunters registered per member branch, a rise from the 453 recorded in January.
Encouragingly, the number of properties available per branch increased from 33 in January to 35 in February.
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Urgency
Mark Hayward, managing director at the National Association of Estate Agents, notes that, ‘it is evident from February’s report findings that we’ve seen a real sense of urgency from landlords trying to complete on sales ahead of the stamp duty reforms-which now come into force next week. However, the mounting pressure and increased demand for housing has meant that first time buyers have had to compete with landlords for property and as a result they have lost out.’[1]
‘The number of properties available per branch increased marginally from 33 in January to 35 in February, as the number of sales agreed per branch in February increased too. There were an average nine sales completed in February, back to the level seen in October 2015 and a rise from eight sales agreed per branch in January,’ Hayward added.[1]
[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/housing-market-erupts-with-flood-of-btl-investors.html