By Isle of Wight Observer
The property market has seen a sizeable spike in transactions, since no extension of the reliefs for home movers and first-time buyers was confirmed in Labour’s autumn budget.
From April 1, the threshold at which SDLT (Stamp Duty Land Tax) will be payable will fall from £250,000, for residential properties, to £125,000. For First Time Buyers (FTBs) they will continue to benefit from a higher nil rate band, but it will now be for properties from £300,000 to £500,000, down from £425,000 to £625,000.
Data from reallymoving, the comparison site for home movers, reveals that moving volumes last week were 92 per cent higher than the average for Q1, compared to 60 per cent higher in 2024, making the spike in volume for this week in 2025 53 per cent higher than the 2024 spike.
The culmination of months of effort and diligence, by property lawyers up and down the country, came down to just a few days in the run up to the deadline on Monday, with many conveyancers delaying holidays and working long into evenings and weekends to ensure that so many people could successfully move home.
There is mixed news for the conveyancing community in the aftermath of the deadline; while the cliff edge no longer looms, any hope of a break may have to wait as many conveyancers continue to report strong pipelines into April and May.
“Activity is likely to pick up steadily as the summer progresses, despite wider economic uncertainties in the global economy, since underlying conditions for potential home buyers in the UK remain supportive,” said Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist in the building society’s latest House Price Index. Both Zoopla and Rightmove have predicted market volumes will rise by 5 per cent in 2025, to 1.15m transactions, and with March, April and May traditionally seeing around 30 per cent of the total number of properties listed for sale each year, the market is likely to remain active.