The Conservative Party’s shock election victory saw an estimated £500m frenzy of quick sales and fresh offers in Central London during Friday alone.
Estate agents and property owners alike were said to have been inundated with calls as the surprise election result gave would-be buyers the confidence to press on with their home buying plans.
Edward Heaton of Heaton and Partners property search agents has suggested that house prices for prime properties could rise as much as 10%, as fears of a mansion tax and abolition of ‘non dom’ tax status have been allayed.
Becky Fatemi, managing director of estate agents Rokstone, feels that the UK, ‘will see a return of gazumping and sealed bids and buyers will feel under pressure not just to offer a good price but also to compete with other people now flooding into the London market.’ She went on to suggest that a number of her clients had been, ‘packed up and ready to go,’ if Labour would have gained an election victory.[1]
Bedlam
Gary Hersham, MD of Beauchamp Estates in Mayfair, revealed that he had received 20 phone calls before even reaching his office yesterday, following on from the, ‘bedlam,’ of Friday. And Mr Hersham was not alone. Across the capital, agents reported a surge of post-election deals. Chelsea estate agents Russell Simpson reported that they had completed four transactions with a net value of £50m shortly after the results had been confirmed.[2]
London Agents Strutt and Parker said that they had also experienced a hugely productive post-election day, receiving £30 million worth of offers for properties on their books. Peter Wetherall, of Mayfair based agents under the same name, said that his firm, ‘is currently processing some £29 million worth of offers that were made on Mayfair property to us on Friday straight after the election.’[3]
Head of research at Strutt and Parker, Stephanie McMahon, commented that, ‘the prime central London markets displayed a marked reduction in volumes over the past nine months and this result will likely put an end to that.’ She went on to suggest that, ‘the more property tax-favourable approach of the Conservatives will serve to immediately increase confidence for those buying and selling homes over £1.5 million across the UK and we would not be surprised to see a surge in pent-up activity.’[4]
[1-4] http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/500m-homebuying-frenzy-in-central-london-after-tory-win-10242312.html