"During what is likely their last budget for years to come, the Tory party may as well have ignored the property market altogether"
- Colby Short - GetAgent
The latest industry insight from estate agent comparison site, GetAgent.co.uk, has found that the majority of the UK property industry thinks that last week’s budget should have featured more initiatives focussed on both boosting demand and supply.
The survey of 833 UK property professionals found that the vast majority were disappointed in last week’s lacklustre Spring Budget, with 27% describing it as inadequate and a further 54% stating it was underwhelming.
Hardly surprising that the big rabbit out of the hat was a reduction to capital gains tax, with just a small supply incentive announced on the delivery of 8,000 homes within London.
The industry had been expecting a significant announcement on 99% mortgage which would have been sure to light the touch paper where buyer demand levels are concerned, however, this was scrapped just days before, a decision that 56% of those surveyed agreed with.
In its place, there had been hopes of another stamp duty reduction-based initiative and 71% of those surveyed by GetAgent believe this should have been included by the government.
67% also stated they would have liked to see some other form of buyer incentive introduced to help kick start the market, with 64% stating they would have liked to have seen more focus on housing supply.
Furthermore, 83% think more should have been done to improve the homebuying and selling process.
While there was a rabbit out of the hat in the form of a reduction to capital gains tax, just 35% think it will incentivise more landlords to invest in the buy-to-let sector, with 42% believing it will encourage more landlords to actually sell up and exit.
So with a second consecutive Budget of property market disappointment, it’s no surprise that just 14% of those surveyed think that the property market will now see a boost in buyer and seller activity as a result of the property market initiative announced.
What’s more, just 12% think that the housing market will now see a boost to house prices following last week’s Spring Budget.
Co-founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short, commented: “During what is likely their last budget for years to come, the Tory party may as well have ignored the property market altogether. Despite predictions or maybe hopes, that there may have been stimuli for the property market, none were forthcoming.
"As shown in the survey, this is disappointing to many people. However, election years often result in stagnation in the property market whilst buyers and sellers wait to see who comes out on top. With the property market seemingly an afterthought in this election, and with no major housing policies to separate the parties, I would hope that the market can continue unaffected by this election year.”
