Tag: Property Updates

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Northampton property updates proposals to cut stamp duty

Stamp Duty Tax Trellows Estate Agents Northampton

Northampton property updates proposals to cut stamp duty

 

There is growing speculation that the government is planning to encourage pensioners to downsize by offering a stamp duty tax break. The move would be a welcome one, according to the National Association of Property Buyers (NAPB) as it would potentially increase the supply of larger properties coming onto them market. It is estimated that almost four in ten properties are officially ‘under-occupied’, meaning they have too many bedrooms for those living there, and could be more effectively used by families with children.

Jonathan Rolande, from the National Association of Property Buyers (NAPB), said: “We’d welcome a stamp duty cut for pensioners selling their own home to downsize. It would allow them to move without the penalty of high SDLT and would certainly encourage more to do so.

“Currently a pensioner selling a family home at £700,000 to buy at £500,000 would face a £15,000 stamp duty bill and with other costs such as estate agent and solicitors a move downward is going to cost them nearly £30,000 – a figure many simply cannot bring themselves to pay when leaving a much loved family home.

“Government receipts from stamp duty have more than doubled in the last ten years so there is certainly capacity to offer targeted reductions to help free up stock.”

Buy-to-let landlords could also be given incentives, such as lower capital gains tax, to sell their second homes to first-time buyers. But Rolande fears that this measure could backfire. He added: “We strongly disagree with any plan to reduce taxes for landlords who sell to first time buyers,” he added.

“The last thing we need right now is fewer properties to let, penalising those not in a position to buy their home. If tax breaks for wealthy landlords are on the table, why not use them to incentivise those who let their property on longer term agreements, giving more security to hard pressed tenants?

“We’re very glad that the government is looking at measures to repair parts of the broken property market but I am fearful that ill-considered action to solve one problem here will create another issue elsewhere.”

COMMENT

The government needs to seriously consider its position on Stamp Duty. As house prices have risen, more and more properties have approached the higher Stamp Duty rates, creating a glass ceiling, that is discouraging people from moving upwards. People in the UK are used to moving home, to move upwards, outwards or near to another job, but the punitive rates are punishing those who by moving are contributing the economy in a very significant manner.

The volume of property for sale is at an all time low, onw of the factors contributing to this is that as the chain of sales has worked its way upwards, there comes a point where it is just too uneconomical for people to move upwards, which would make their home available for those lower down the ladder to also move. The exchequer is collecting less tax from the top 5% of properties today, than before they increased the rates, making their logic unclear.

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Northampton house prices continue to rise

Northampton house prices continue to rise

Northampton house prices continue to rise

Property rose by 0.5 percent more expensive than in February, new figures show.

The boost contributes to the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve seven percent annual growth.

The average Northampton house price in March was £225,681, Land Registry figures show – a 0.5% increase on February.

Over the month, the picture was less good than that across the East Midlands, where prices increased 1.9%, and Northampton underperformed compared to the 1.8% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Northampton rose by £15,000 – putting the area 40th among the East Midlands’s 45 local authorities for annual growth.

The best annual growth in the region was in Oadby and Wigston, where property prices increased on average by a whopping 21 percent, to £275,000. At the other end of the scale, properties in East Northamptonshire gained 3.1 percent in value, giving an average price of £257,000.

Winners and Losers

Owners of terraced houses saw the biggest improvement in property prices in Northampton in March – they increased 0.8 percent, to £192,588 on average. Over the last year, prices rose by 7.9 percent.

Among other types of property:

■ Detached: up 0.5 percent monthly; up 7.9 percent annually; £388,929 average

■ Semi-detached: up 0.3 per cent monthly; up 6.7 per cent annually; £232,200 average

■ Flats: up 0.4% monthly; up 3.7% annually; £130,191 average

First steps on the property ladder

First-time buyers in Northampton spent an average of £199,000 on their property – £13,000 more than a year ago, and £40,000 more than in March 2016.

By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £250,000 on average in March – 25.3 percent more than first-time buyers.

How do property prices in Northampton compare?

Buyers paid 2.6 percent more than the average price in the East Midlands (£220,000) in March for a property in Northampton. Across the East Midlands, property prices are lower than those across the UK, where the average cost £256,000.

The most expensive properties in the East Midlands were in Rutland – £362,000 on average, and 1.6 times as much as in Northampton. Rutland properties cost 2.4 times as much as homes in Bolsover (£149,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average March sale price of £1.3 MILLION could buy 14 properties in Burnley — where the average is £94,000.