Conveyancing firms “stabilise” and Rightmove predicts further house price increases
Search Acumen, the property data insight and technology provider, has issued the latest edition of its quarterly Conveyancing Market Tracker for Q3 2021, revealing that the number of active conveyancing firms has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, stabilising at just over 4,000 for the second quarter in a row. The report shows that the top-ranking conveyancing […]
HMRC pockets £4.1bn increase in SDLT receipts
HMRC figures highlight the impact of the SDLT holiday with a £4.1bn increase in Stamp Duty receipts in the six months from April to October 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. And to put the current market in context, when comparing October 2021 and October 2019, receipts are up 25%. But while conveyancers […]
Leapfrogging antiquated processes with technology and an appetite for innovation
The property market has been operating at breakneck speed over the past few months as a combination of Covid-19 dynamics and Stamp Duty holiday incentives have created the perfect storm. For Scott Gair, Partner at Dean Wilson, there has never been a better time to embrace technology and keep one step ahead of the fast […]
Transaction volumes hit annualised 1.5m for first time since 2008
September property transaction figures showed the anticipated spike in volume as the SDLT holiday came to close, but did not reach the peaks seen earlier in the year in March and June according to HMRC figures. The figures show the highest number of transactions registered in September since record began in 2005 with non-seasonally adjusted […]
Sellers chance their arm with high price listings
The price of property coming to market has surged past last month’s record and jumped by an average of 1.8% (+£5,983) this month according to Rightmove’s October House Price Index. With inflation threatening the continuing of record law interest rates, buyers are moving quickly to take advantage before potential rate rises; which could come quicker […]
August HMRC Stats show busy run upto to end of SDLT holiday
August’s HMRC statistics show the anticipated busy run up to the end of the SDLT holiday on 30th September. The data is split into non-seasonally adjusted estimate, and seasonally adjusted estimates (which follow a regular annual pattern) UK residential transactions. In August 2021 the non-seasonally adjusted numbers were 106,150 transactions, 25% higher than August 2020 […]
Why it’s time for lawyers to part with paper
Lawyers do not become legal practitioners to do paperwork, but when managing heavy workloads, it can sometimes be hard to think about innovation and adopting new processes. This can lead to frustrations as a result of inefficient practices that impact service delivery and slow down transaction times. Covid-19 has only served to aggravate the pitfalls […]
July transactions down 61% on June 2021
Transaction figures released today (24th August) by HMRC show a 61% decrease in home moving activity in July compared to June following the end of the first stage of the SDLT holiday tapering process. From 1st July to 30th September only properties in England up to £250,000 are eligible for the nil rate band; the […]
ONS Figures highlight impact of SDLT holiday
ONS figures have shown average house prices have reached a record £266,000, £1,000 higher than the same time last year. UK average house prices increased by 13.2% over the year to June 2021, up from 9.8% in May 2021, the highest annual growth rate the UK has seen since November 2004. The figures come against […]
London loosens grip on high-value property market as house prices surge
Surging house prices over the last year have loosened London’s grip on the high-value property market, according to analysis of official data by Search Acumen, the property data and insight provider. The residential property market has recovered at pace since summer 2020 when the country exited the first Covid-19 lockdown, fuelled by pent-up demand and […]
Active conveyancing firms recover to pre-pandemic levels
The number of property transactions registered in England and Wales climbed 20% over the last quarter, rising to 290,248 in Q2 2021, up from 241,916 in Q1 2021, according to the latest edition of the Conveyancing Market Tracker from Search Acumen, the property data insight and technology provider. This is the highest number of quarterly […]
Stamp Duty holiday triggers 171,000 extra sales
The current Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) holiday has helped deliver a property market stimulus that has far outweighed the immediate response to the 2007/08 financial crisis, according to new analysis by Search Acumen, the property data and insight provider. Despite causing an uplift in activity, the current SDLT relaxation has so far triggered a 7% rise […]
Data shows heated market may continue beyond SDLT deadline
HMRC’s latest property data demonstrates just how heated the property market is as a result of the demand created by the SDLT holiday. The latest figures, released today, show May transactions at their highest since 2014, with 103,100 estimated completions. The 392,860 transactions completed in the first quarter of 2021 is also the highest since […]
Construction sector continues to feed economic recovery
Construction output fell 2.0% in April 2021 following a particularly strong increase in March (5.8%), and output now stands slightly above its pre-pandemic February 2020 level1 Andy Sommerville, Director at Search Acumen, says: “Despite the drop in monthly construction output following a strong March, the construction sector remains one of the leading lights in the […]
No signs of ‘cooling off’ for conveyancing transactions
Recent activity and data show no let-up for the conveyancing sector as the stamp duty holiday and broader market conditions continue to put pressure on the industry. The residential property market has experienced unprecedented changes over the past 14 months due to the impact of the pandemic. But with the stamp duty deadline looming fast, […]
Conveyancing crunch deepens as the property market recovers by double in Q1
Q1 2021 transactions were up 193% on Q2 2020 after the shutting down of the property market caused transactions to slide to 82,385 Strong trading conditions have led to a sustained recovery in the number of active conveyancing firms – active firms climbed 4% to 3,962 in Q1 2021, up from 3,808 in Q4 2020 […]
Housebuilding industry continues to face difficulties
New-build price hikes could be on the cards following a warning from leading industry figures. Price rises in materials are set to make new build homes more expensive according to sector experts which could have an impact on First time buyers wanting to get on the property ladder. The chief executives of the Builders Merchants […]
Property housing market displays buoyancy
Market Data from HM Land Registry and HMRC show a promising buoyant property market. The latest UK monthly property transactions data from HMRC shows the biggest April for property sales since the financial crisis in 2007, with sales double that of 2020 when the UK entered the first lockdown. By the end of the 2020/21 […]
Construction industry proving to be boon for UK economy
Private and public new housing output jumps 9.4% and 16.7% respectively over the last month1 Andy Sommerville, Director at Search Acumen, says: “This latest set of data underlines that the construction sector is proving to be a boon for the UK economy. “The rise in new housing construction activity is likely to have been partly […]
Stamp Duty holiday triggers 22% rise in monthly property transactions
– equivalent to over 171,000 extra sales Pandemic response more effective at stimulating demand than post-financial crisis Stamp Duty holiday in 2008/09, when transactions fell 27% 171,303 extra transactions occur since the introduction of the holiday compared to the norm during the 12 months before first lockdown Rising house prices offset £2,572 of the average […]