**Stamp Duty Holiday Surge**
The last few weeks saw a flurry of house sales complete as first time buyers rushed to take advantage of the lift on stamp duty. Up until last weekend, those buying a property for the first time for £250k or under were exempt of stamp duty fees, resulting in a surge of sales by savvy Brits hoping to save on their first home.
The trend for housing bargains didn’t stop there – eBay, the UK’s biggest marketplace, saw a stark increase in the sale of sofa beds, table and chairs and DIY equipment, as new homeowners moved to furnish their recent purchases on a budget. Sofa sales rose by 157% and curtain purchases crept up by 241% in the last three months as the stamp duty deadline loomed and first time buyers hurried to make an investment. Brits on a budget also made savings by doing up their houses themselves – sales of paintbrushes increased by 156%.
Russell Jervis, haart Managaging Director comments, ‘haart experienced a noticeable upsurge in interest from first time buyers after Christmas as the deadline for the end of Stamp Duty Relief began to loom. During some weeks we had as many as 5,000 people new applicants registering their details, as buyers looked to save themselves as much as £2,500 on the purchase of their first home.
This level of interest also provided an impetus to those people thinking of selling below the £250,000 threshold resulting in good levels of new instructions coming onto the market in January and February, both of which are traditionally fairly quiet months for estate agents.
The last few days before the March 25 deadline were extremely hectic with everyone at haart working long into the night to ensure that everyone who wanted to exchange did so in time”.
Laura Wilkinson, of eBay added: “Home furnishings are always popular on the site, but in the past three months in particular sales have gone through the roof. Bigger household items like sofas and double beds have been selling like hot cakes as new homeowners rush to furnish their houses on a budget. Even those personal touches like welcome mats and garden gnomes have increased, by 50% and a whopping 544% respectively as Brits turn their new houses into new homes”
- Ends -