Property Market Update: Stamp Duty Changes And Brexit

We have not been surprised to witness a significant slowdown in the housing market following the buy-to-let rush to complete on transactions before the 31 March deadline on stamp duty rises for second homes.

The UK's largest lender, Halifax, reported that house prices had dropped by 0.8% during April as buy-to let purchasers practically vanished from the market, a sharp reverse on the 2.2% gain seen in March.  Analysts are now split as to whether continued tight market conditions will push prices back up, or whether the EU referendum next month will deter buyers and drive prices down further.

Both surveyors and estate agents have been reporting of a "climate of uncertainty" on the ground with transaction numbers falling significantly at the multi-million pound level in particular as buyers from mainland Europe await the outcome of the vote on 23 June. That end of the market had of course already been hit by George Osborne's stamp duty hikes back in December 2014.