Kate Bould, the managing director of bespoke property search firm Index West Midlands says the government must make full use of the extra six months of SDLT holiday announced in this week’s Budget (3 March 2021) to carry out “an urgent review of the country’s antiquated and outdated” house buying process.
She believes that extending the SDLT holiday is a “positive signal of government support”, but that it has to be a first step:
“For the country’s house buyers, conveyancers, estate agents and property solicitors, the Chancellors announcement that the SDLT holiday will continue until the end of September is fantastic news,”
she says.
“However, the same problems and issues with the house buying process that have contributed to the log-jam of property sales will still exist. Therefore, the government must utilise the extra six-months to review the process and make some quick changes to the house buying process, otherwise the current problems will simply grow, which will result in a devastating end to the SDLT holiday in September.
“The Chancellor should use the SDLT announcement as the turning point for the residential property sector,” she says. “It must commit to this desperately needed and long-overdue overhaul of the UK’s antiquated and outdated house buying process by looking to house buying and search models in other countries, which are relevant to today’s digital-first, paperless world, and make full use of technology.”
For more information: https://indexpi.co.uk/offices/westmidlands.html.
