So, the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves has delivered her much awaited budget but what does it mean to the housing market? Very little really!
Many were hoping that stamp duty would be reduced or waived for a period, but no changes were made at all. No housing market incentives were given to help stimulate activity, to prevent dropping sales and encourage new properties to come to the market.
The Chancellor did levy higher tax on landlords which we fear could be passed onto tenants by increasing rents and a new Mansion Tax was introduced for properties exceeding £2 million.
The main positive is that the budget is now behind us; so potentially normal business can resume. Since the end of the summer there has been so much speculation as to what may be in the budget that the market has stalled in anticipation. The normal buoyant autumn market was sluggish with so many potential house movers delaying and waiting to see what the Chancellor had up her sleeve.
The Bank of England met in early November and held interest rates with the budget in mind; we can now hope that mortgage rates can perhaps edge down in December in readiness for the New Year market. Lower mortgage rates will accelerate the recovery in the market.
At the moment, the housing is still needing more confidence and lower affordability. Confidence will only return once the economy improves so the hope is the Chancellor has called this budget right and the economy will begin to improve.
Overall, 2025 has been a tough year for the housing market created mainly by political turbulence and uncertainty leading to to a lack of confidence. We hope the final month of the year will be better than a normal December with pent up demand from stalling buyers and sellers through the autumn.
As we go into the festive season we wish all our clients the best of health and a prosperous New Year.