A ‘mini boom’ in the housing market has gathered momentum after Rishi Sunak’s stamp duty holiday announcement earlier this month.

On the 8^th July 2020, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak announced a stamp duty holiday for those purchasing a property in England and Northern Ireland. The stamp duty holiday will last up until March 2021 and will save house buyers up to £15,000 on purchases.

Since the announcement, Rightmove reported a 35% increase in the number of sales agreed in England, this is in comparison to the same period in 2019. In addition to this, there’s also been an increase in average asking prices. The average UK home now has a price tag of just over £320,000, which is 2.4% higher than the average price in March, representing an annual asking price growth of 3.7%

Rightmove director, Miles Shipside said: “The unexpected mini-boom continues to gather momentum. The busy until interrupted spring market has now picked up where it left off and has been accelerated by both time-limited stamp duty holidays and by homeowners reappraising their homes and lifestyles because of the lockdown.”

The Rightmove figures certainly indicate recovery in interest from potential buyers. Buyer enquiries across Britain jumped by an annual 75% since the start of July, indicating a strong recovery for the housing market. In addition to this, 44% of homes that have come on the market since 13^th May, are now under offer, 10% higher than the same period last year.

Is now the best time for buy-to-let investors to purchase property?

For buy-to-let investors looking at property in England, it’s a great time to buy as it is unlikely a stamp duty holiday, or savings of this kind, will come around again. Those purchasing a second home, or a buy-to-let property will still have to pay the 3% extra duty up to the value of £500,000. However, before they had to pay stamp duty + the 3% extra duty, meaning that for a property worth £300,000, the stamp duty paid would now be £9,000 instead of the usual £14,000.

Back in the 2020 budget announcement in March, Rishi Sunak confirmed plans to add a further 2% surcharge on top of stamp duty land tax for non-resident buyers of property in the UK. The surcharge isn’t due to go into effect until April 2021. Without the increase in place and with a stamp duty holiday until March 2021, purchasing buy-to-let property in England and Northern Ireland is even more lucrative than it once was.

Buy-to-let investment opportunities on the market in Manchester, UK

Beech Holdings have a number of completed developments in Manchester with stamp duty savings. One of these developments is Westpoint. Comprising of 317 studio and one to three-bedroom apartments, Westpoint is Beech Holdings’ largest residential development to date. With a very limited number of apartments remaining for investment, and a 7% guaranteed rental yield, this tenanted building is a great opportunity for a buy-to-let investor looking for fully managed investment in Manchester.

Westpoint is situated in the heart of the Trafford Regeneration scheme and benefits from its close proximity to UA92, a brand new university that is set to attract over 6,000 students to the area, highlighting the high tenant demand in the area.

If you’d like to hear more about Westpoint or our other investment opportunities, get in touch to find out more.