Completion volumes across the market in the last five days of March exceeded those for the whole of March 2024, estimates from Simplify suggest.
Simplify, the UK’s largest conveyancing and property services group, has completed over 6,500 mover transactions since this time last week as the conveyancing sector came together in an unprecedented effort to ensure the maximum possible number ahead of the deadline.
Simplify says the ‘remarkable’ achievement is the culmination of months of hard work by teams in conveyancing businesses across the UK to do the best for all clients.
Many conveyancers have delayed holidays and worked into evenings and weekends to ensure that so many people could successfully move home.
COMBINED EFFORT
But it wasn’t just conveyancers working together to make it happen. Many estate agents have worked in partnership with conveyancers and given them the space to focus on getting cases through.
Lenders too have worked hard to issue mortgage offers and release funds while the Bank of England and other commercial payment providers worked with Simplify and others to understand the likely volumes through the peak days and extended their operational hours for payment processing to accommodate the surge in transactions.
David Grossman, CEO of Simplify, says: “This has been a monumental effort by everyone involved. The dedication and collaboration across the industry have been truly inspiring.
“We are grateful for the support from the Bank of England and other payment providers, which has been crucial in achieving these record numbers.”
From today thousands of first-time buyers in England will face higher upfront costs when purchasing a home with the threshold for first-time buyer relief dropping from £425,000 to £300,000.
FIRST-TIME BUYER COSTS
Last week analysis from Leeds Building Society revealed the changes mean that 85% of first-time buyers in London would be subject to the charges, along with 55% in the South East, 49% in the East of England, 30% in the South West, 16% in the West Midlands, 15% in the East Midlands, 13% in the North West, 9% in Yorkshire and the Humbe, and 6% in the North East.
The average first-time buyer home in London is £473,282, meaning the stamp duty bill for a typical first-time buyer in the capital will shoot from £2,414 to £8,664.
