New research has found that the vast majority of the UK property industry think that the Spring Budget missed the mark when it comes to boosting current market conditions, with many hoping to have seen more initiatives focussed on both boosting demand and supply.
The survey of 833 UK property professionals, commissioned by GetAgent, found that the vast majority were disappointed in last week’s lacklustre Spring Budget, with 27% describing it as inadequate and a further 54% stating it was underwhelming.
Hardly surprising that the big rabbit out of the hat was a reduction to capital gains tax, with just a small supply incentive announced on the delivery of 8,000 homes within London.
The industry had been expecting a significant announcement on 99% mortgage however, this was scrapped just days before, a decision that 56% of those surveyed agreed with.
In its place, there had been hopes of another stamp duty reduction based initiative and 71% of those surveyed by GetAgent believe this should have been included by the government.
67% also stated they would have liked to see some other form of buyer incentive introduced to help kick start the market, with 64% stating they would have liked to have seen more focus on housing supply. What’s more, 83% think more should have been done to improve the homebuying and selling process.
So with a second consecutive Budget of property market disappointment, 14% of those surveyed think that the property market will now see a boost in buyer and seller activity as a result of the property market initiative announced.
12% think that the housing market will now see a boost to house prices following last week’s Spring Budget. Co-founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short, commented:
“During what is likely their last budget for years to come, the Tory party may as well have ignored the property market altogether. Despite predictions, or maybe hopes, that there may have been stimulii for the property market, none were forthcoming.
As shown in the survey, this is disappointing to many people. However, election years often result in stagnation in the property market whilst buyers and sellers wait to see who comes out on top. With the property market seemingly an afterthought in this election, and with no major housing policies to separate the parties, I would hope that the market can continue unaffected by this election year.”
