Over 1/2m home moves are currently active in the home moving market, just under half of the 1.15m total number of home moves predicted for the whole of 2025, with the ‘massive logjam’ likely to result in 74,000 home movers missing the 31st March 2025 SDLT deadline suggest property portal Rightmove.
25,000 of those who may miss out are first time buyers (FTBs) prompting hopes the Spring Statement, which is announced just before the deadline, could be an ‘opportune’ moment to announce a short extension. But with £142 million in extra tax revenue to be gained, the suspicion is any extension is unlikely.
There are concerns the failure to complete before the SLDT deadline will see a higher than normal volume of fall throughs, with knock on impact through transaction chains; but, say Rightmove, there is cause for optimism in the market in general after 31st March.
The number of sales being agreed is 9% higher than at this time in 2024, and the number of new sellers is now 8% ahead of this time last year. Both are positive signs for continued market activity after stamp duty increases at the start of April. The sticking point, say Rightmove, is high mortgage rates which are ‘proving stickier than many expected and still very susceptible to economic uncertainty.’ According to their weekly mortgage tracker, the average five-year fixed mortgage rate is now 4.74%, which is down from the peak of 6.11% in July 2023, but is only a marginally better than this time last year, which was 4.84%.
“The pipeline of sales going through the completion process, as well as new sales being agreed, are signs of the strength of the important Spring housing market. It’s encouraging to see new activity continue to track above last year’s level. One of the clouds hanging over the market is persistently high mortgage rates. While there’s now more of an understanding among movers that rates aren’t heading back to previously ultra-low levels, many will have been hoping that they would drop more quickly.”
said Colleen Babcock, property expert at Rightmove.
The portal says it welcomes proposals by the FCA to look at ways responsible lending can be simplified, following the news lenders could relax stress testing rules in an effort to improve access to mortgages as interest rates fall.
As has been widely reported, the number of properties coming to market continues to rise with Rightmove’s own data suggesting February and March are the best months to come to market for sellers; research shows the highest proportion of properties that go on to find a buyer, are listed in February and March. But with the highest volume of properties on the portal since 2015, sellers need to be price conscious.
“Historic averages show that this March is likely to be one of the strongest months of the year for sellers to spring into action. However, sellers can’t just rely on these historic averages for success, as this year they are facing a decade-high level of competition. Those who are successfully finding buyers right now are working hard with their agents to price competitively and present their home in the best possible light. The big milestone ahead in England is the stamp duty deadline, and with a massive log-jam of 575,000 moves going through the legal completion process, many cost-conscious buyers will be doing all they can to get their move over the line and avoid unnecessary extra tax. Whilst agents tell us that they have been working with both sellers and buyers to factor in the additional charges, many movers are understandably hoping to reduce their tax bill and keep their savings for themselves.”
Concludes Babcock.
