As a conveyancer, I watched the government’s budget with the same mix of curiosity and cautious optimism shared across the property sector. In conveyancing, budget announcements can bring sudden changes that require an immediate response, and over the years I’ve learned to stay alert.
I’ve spent more than one lunch break sitting in my car, listening to the budget on the radio, only to rush back to the office when a surprise stamp duty reform was announced. On one memorable occasion, I finalised several exchanges on my mobile phone from my bedroom at 11pm at night, so clients wouldn’t lose substantial sums if we missed the changes that were being imposed from midnight.
For weeks, the market has been buzzing with speculation, and we have seen a number of transactions where both sellers and purchasers have been holding out on exchanging contracts until the budget had been published. Would we see some bold measures to inject life into a slowing housing market?
What unfolded, however, was a lot more muted than many had anticipated. The budget offered just the mansion tax, which only impacts properties worth over £2,000,000 and is to be collected as part of the council tax. There wasn’t any substantial innovation to stimulate first-time buyers and no major review of the SDLT framework. In short, nothing that will materially shift the conveyancing landscape in the coming months.
For those of us working directly with clients navigating the realities of a difficult market, this budget will possibly be remembered less for what it said and more for what it didn’t.
As we move forward, one thing remains certain: clients will need clarity and support more than ever, and it’s our role to help them make sense of a system that – at least for now – remains unchanged.
Bill Osborn is deputy head of conveyancing and head of the Yeovil office at Amicus Law.
