Press Round Up March 2025

Wed 16 Apr 2025

The approaching end of the stamp duty holiday left more than 100,000 buyers desperately trying to get their house purchases over the line before the end of this month. Jeremy Leaf, principal of Jeremy Leaf & Co, told The Times: “It seems a little unfair on those who have moved heaven and earth to take advantage of the stamp duty concession before it disappears but who may not make it, through no fault of their own. The deadline could perhaps have been extended for those transactions in solicitors’ hands from the beginning of February as a small respite.”

However, more historical mortgage approval figures rose 18 per cent year-on-year in January, according to the Bank of England. Jeremy Leaf told City AM that the market was ’shrugging off’ concerns with regard to the stamp duty concession. “These figures provide further evidence of the resilience and underlying confidence in home buying, setting the tone for activity over the next few months at least.” He explained further in The Evening Standard: “What we have noticed in our offices is more interest in viewing houses – rather than flats – but increasing concerns about job security, inflation and pace of future interest rate cuts. This, along with more choice, has meant protracted negotiations and lengthening transaction times."

Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her spring statement to the Commons but what do the various measures mean? Jeremy Leaf told The Metro that the focus on affordable housing is welcome: “[However], we still need more detail of where, when and how those spades are going to be in the ground.”

There has been a spike in landlords selling up since the star of the year, according to property data firm TwentyCi. However, Jeremy Leaf told This is Money that he personally hadn’t seen many landlords selling up. “Most landlords are happy to stick with their tenancies at the moment and are adopting a 'wait and see' attitude bearing gin mind speculation about possible changes to the Renters’ Rights Bill before it becomes law. Rents at near or record levels are also persuading landlords to stay put. They can recognise that there are still reasons to do it although perhaps those landlords who have had difficulties with tenants are selling up. We have had some clients mention they are considering their options based on imminent rental reform but this has only translated into a handful of sales so far."

The housing market is starting to lose momentum, according to the latest RICS residential report. Jeremy Leaf told Money Week: “Affordability is still acting as a check on rent rises but lack of supply particularly of smaller flats and houses has certainly prevented more substantial reductions in activity over the past few weeks."

Some self-builders are opting for custom-build plots rather than searching for a potential plot and then trying to get planning permission themselves. Jeremy Leaf told Homebuilding & Renovating: “Opportunities to buy custom-build plots often come about in larger developments where the developer is looking to sell something in advance to demonstrate loyalty and interest in the site. The idea is that if they are selling in advance to custom builders it sends a positive signal to other buyers, showing they have faith in the development generally. You might find these opportunities via an estate agent or, if a developer is building 100 houses and sells of say 10 as a custom-build plot, it might come directly from the developer, or an agent acting for them. It will depend on where it is and what is being sold."

The effects of the pandemic and the events following when there was a race for space have caused a lingering hangover in the housing market. Jeremy Leaf told The Telegraph: “It no longer makes practical sense to be stuck in the sticks, but it’s not so easy [to sell up] as the demand is not there and mortgages are not so easy to come by. That has absolutely had an impact on the market."