The UK’s housing market remains quiet but continuing the stamp duty holiday for first time buyers could help according to some experts.
New figures released by HMRC show that there were 76,000 property sales in June. This brings the total for Q2 to 225,000, a rise of 9,000 on Q1, but a drop of 35,000 on the final three months of last year.
The RICS says that the government could boost the real estate market if the stamp duty holiday became commonplace. In its recent survey, 89% of the respondents said that the stamp duty exemption should remain in place and 85% of respondents believe transaction activity would increase by up to 10% if the exemption is maintained.
Gross mortgage lending, although 15% higher in June than in May, is still low and this is also having an adverse effect on the housing market.
The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries believes that the government needs to come up with practical solutions to encourage banks to increase mortgage lending. The current lack of funding could get worse as the repayment phase for the Special Liquidity Scheme kicks in at the beginning of next year.
Robert Sinclair, a director at AMI, said that a practical solution is needed so that people can look for a new home and feel reasonably confident that funding might be available. The AMI expects to see large degrees of regional variation in house prices over the remainder of the year. And they say brokers will continue to have a considerable influence over the housing market as more freelancers are seeking advice to ensure they get a good opportunity of securing the best contractor mortgage.
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