"Anyone entering the market now also has little to no hope of completing prior to either deadline extension, but a cash buyer could provide you with a fighting chance"
Buyer activity has exploded since the introduction of the stamp duty holiday and while top line market health remains strong, an undercurrent of panic has started to build as many homebuyers and sellers remain in property market limbo due to lengthy delays at the back end of the transaction process.
The best approach to secure a quick sale is to instruct a good lawyer who specialises in conveyancing, ensure you are on top of your paperwork and then cross all of your fingers and toes.
However, there is one thing that can help speed the process along and that’s a buyer who plans to pay in cash, significantly reducing the time it will take you to sell and allowing you to push forward with your own onward purchase.
Yes Homebuyers analysed market data since the stamp duty holiday began in July of last year, to find which pockets of the property market are home to the highest number of cash buyers as a percentage of all transactions.
The research shows that just 27% of stamp duty holiday property purchases across England have come via cash buyers. You have the best chance in the South West where this figure sits at 33%, with the North East (33%), North West (28%) and Yorkshire and the Humber (28%) also presenting an above average level of cash buyers. London, however, is home to the lowest chance, with just 17% of transactions since July of last year paid for in cash.
The good news is that some areas provide a far better chance, with East Lindsey taking the top spot. Since the start of the stamp duty holiday, 55% of all property transactions have been paid for in cash.
North Norfolk (54%) has also seen more than half of stamp duty holiday transactions paid for in cash, while Scarborough (49%), the Isle of Wight (48%), Rother (48%), Torridge (48%), East Devon (46%), Richmondshire (45%), South Hams (45%) and Arun (44%) also make the top 10.
Not only does London account for the low level of cash buyers at regional level, but it also accounts for six out of the top 10 lowest at local authority level. Barking and Dagenham are home to the lowest of all areas at 11%, with Slough (12%), Watford (13%), Harlow (14%) and Thurrock (14%) also making the list.
Matthew Cooper, founder and managing director of Yes Homebuyers, commented: “The government continues to cling to a buoyant housing market as their only real pandemic success story and they've achieved this by introducing yet another initiative, focussed on fuelling demand rather than supply.
"While there’s no doubt it has benefited those to have secured a stamp duty saving, it has also come at the expense of many homebuyers and sellers who are now stuck in the bottleneck waiting to complete with no hope of doing so ahead of the deadline.
"The reality is, anyone entering the market now also has little to no hope of completing prior to either deadline extension, but a cash buyer could provide you with a fighting chance, or at least help you reduce an otherwise lengthy transaction process.”
