Housing demand has been high during the pandemic
(Picture: PA Archive)Last month marked the busiest September for home sales since records of this data began in 2005, as the pandemic property boom continues to be hot.
Provisional non-seasonally adjusted figures from HM Revenue and Customs estimate 165,720 UK residential transactions.
That was 59.7% above August and 67.3% higher than September last year when the market was also performing well helped by a stamp duty holiday.
Lawrence Bowles at Savills, said: “The pandemic-induced race for space and the stamp duty holiday has triggered an “additional” 146,000 transactions since March 2020. As a result, annual transaction levels have risen above 1.5 million for the first time since February 2008.”
September was the last month a tax holiday on stamp duty rates was in place. Since the start of October the duty has been in place on all purchases above £125,000.
An initial full stamp duty holiday started in July 2020 allowing the first £500,000 spent on a property to be tax free. That break was scaled back from July this year.
Peter Beaumont, chief executive of The Mortgage Lender, said: “With demand outstripping supply, fierce competition is keeping the fire burning in the housing market. Buyers are scrabbling to make the most of record-low mortgage rates, seizing a window of opportunity before they may disappear off the market. What’s more, with hybrid working establishing itself as a fixture of post-pandemic working life, the race for space rolls on.”
