Associate Solicitor Manisha Bhula, head of our Residential Property team, looks at the latest data on the housing market from Nationwide.
According to the latest figures,published this month by lender Nationwide, house prices in the UK rose by 2.1% in March 2021, the largest monthly increase seen since 2004. Nationwide said that house prices had risen by 7.1% in the past 12 months.
In the spring budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak extended the Stamp Duty (SDLT) ‘holiday’. It means that buyers pay no Stamp Duty on the first £500,000 of property until 30 June 2021. Thereafter, the threshold will be lowered to £250,000 until 30 September 2021, at which point it will return to the previous normal level of £125,000.
Nationwide’s chief economist Robert Gardner believes that the housing market will remain "fairly buoyant" between now and the autumn, owed to the extension and the Government’s ongoing job support measures. Mr Gardner also highlighted that the past year has also encouraged many people to re-evaluate consider changing how and where they live.
He explained: “The property market defied the broader downturn in the economy last year thanks to a surge in demand for larger homes during the pandemic, tax breaks and ultra-low interest rates.”
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