First-time buyers are rushing to purchase homes under £250,000 before the Government’s stamp duty holiday ends in March.
The number of mortgages given out in January increased 30 per cent last month, according to chartered surveyors E.serv. Over 15,300 were lent on homes costing less than £125,000, the price bracket that typically attracts first-time buyers and buy to let customers, a rise of almost a third since last year, and the highest number of mortgages since March 2008.
According to Richard Sexton, a director at E.serv, first-time buyers are rushing to buy properties before the Government’s stamp duty holiday – which allows first-time buyers to avoid the 1 per cent duty on homes costing under £250,000 – ends in March.
Meanwhile figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) showed that the number of homes that were repossessed in 2011 was 36,000, the lowest since 2007.
This is good news for the housing market and shows a return of confidence in those wanting to buy or move up the housing ladder. We at Wolton Removals have found this month to be unusually busy since the economic downful in 2008. We have attributed this to our reported news and our growth as a reputable removal company in Bedford.
