Prospective Buyer interest increases following Stamp Duty Holiday Announcement
Introduction
Right Move has said that the announcement of a Stamp Duty Holiday announced by The Chancellor on 8th July, triggered 8.5m visits in one day, its biggest ever audience in one day. And OnTheMarket revealed that it delivered a record number of leads to agents and developers, with sales leads up by 12 per cent on the previous Wednesday, and valuation leads increasing by 19 per cent.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak told the House of Commons in a special statement at lunchtime on 8 July that the new measures, which temporarily increases the ‘nil rate’ band of stamp duty from £125,000 to £500,000; will reduce the average stamp duty bill for a main home from £4,500 to zero.
This means that buyers could potentially save up to £15,000.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said:
“Uncertainty abounds in the market – a market we need to be thriving.”
“We need people feeling confident – confident to buy, sell, renovate, move and improve. That will drive growth. That will create jobs.”
“So to catalyse the housing market and boost confidence, I have decided today to cut stamp duty.”
“The average stamp duty bill will fall by £4,500. And nearly nine out of 10 people buying a main home this year, will pay no stamp duty at all.”
Whilst this is a positive move that will unbeatably help boost the property market following the coronavirus pandemic, a fully recovery is hard to predict with other factors impacting on the market still to take in to consideration, but some industry experts have expected that over the next 12 months the market should slowly start to see positive improvements.
However, with a steady increase expected in property sales and purchases now being evidenced, property agents will need to ensure that they are meeting their regulatory obligations on areas such Anti Money Laundering and other regulatory changes expected to come in to force soon.
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Estate agencies have always been at high risk of being used by criminals for money laundering and it is vital that that property firms have measures in place to minimise the risk of this happening and to ensure they are compliant.
At AML & Compliance our primary focus is to work with estate agents of all sizes, be that independent, a chain or franchise to establish an effective AML strategy which is understood by all staff and ensures the Estate Agency is fully compliant.
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To enquire about our services and how AML & Compliance can work with your business you can call us on 0203 985 8553, email us info@amlandcompliance.co.uk or complete an enquiry form.