I’ve worked in the property industry for 14 years and have seen many changes in the world of residential conveyancing.
Most recently we had the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the stamp duty holiday that followed, the changes in interest rates and now the changes to the stamp duty thresholds. The impact of the latter has not been quite as expected and lessons have been learned.
Following Labour’s success at last year’s General Election, and the subsequent budget in October, the changes to the Stamp Duty Land Tax thresholds on 1 April have been front of mind for all conveyancers. No-one wants to be responsible for clients having to pay more in tax than they have to, so we all felt the additional pressure.
The average timescale of a property sale takes between 12-16 weeks, so that pressure started in November last year when we saw a huge surge in the number of clients wanting to move before the changes to stamp duty took effect. This was especially true for those who were impacted the most by the changes: first time buyers, who saw the eligibility threshold for the tax drop from £425,000 to £300,000.
Those who missed the deadline could be paying £6,500 in additional stamp duty. When you consider these are the same group of people who have typically struggled to get on the proper ladder for years, scrimping and saving just to afford the deposit, missing the deadline could be life changing.
December and January are typically quiet months in the conveyancing world, as people recover from Christmas and focus on the new year. However, that was not the case this year and both months were busy with lots of new enquiries. This trickled into February and even March as clients were desperately trying to beat the deadline.
For some, the stars aligned and they were able to complete under the old thresholds. For others, it was just not possible, and they are now looking at the prospect of having to pay the increased amount. In some cases, this means that deals will fall through as the increased amount is impossible for them to find.
Spring always brings with it an uplift in the property market – properties look their best in the lovely weather with the blossom and the flowers in the garden and sunshine coming in though the windows. However, with the stamp duty deadline coinciding with Spring, most of us anticipated that the market would slow down as prospective buyers – and the economy – took stock of the impact these changes.
The anticipated slow down didn’t happen. Instead, Spring sprung in the property world as if the stamp duty scramble never happened. Sales are being negotiated, and new files are being opened, on a daily basis. This could be down to various factors (such as the gradual lowering of interest rates etc), or it could just be that after the last five years, the market has reverted back to type.
Whatever the reason, it would seem that within the first few weeks of the new stamp duty changes there has not really been any change to the market or to the workload – apart from the fact that most conveyancers have taken a well-deserved break in April having not had one since Christmas!
Maybe this is the new normal, or more likely it is going to take time for the real impact of the changes to come clear – only time will tell.
The most important takeaway from the recent changes is that with conveyancers, mortgage brokers, estate agents and other stakeholders working together in a timely and efficient manner, weeks can be taken out of the average conveyancing timescale. It was also important to ensure that clear and concise expectations were set so that parties knew where they stood.
We should therefore use this opportunity to ensure that going forwards the lessons learned, and skills developed over the past few months should be implemented. It is somewhat odd that in 2025, the average turnaround time for a property transaction is the same (if not longer) as it was back in 2010.
Robert Habbitts is a Residential Conveyancer at Parfitt Cresswell Solicitors
