Could the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget be the magic bullet that gets the UK property market moving again?
A new report suggests house-hunters are waiting to see what Labour announces before making an offer on a property.
Traditionally, Budgets have given the property market a shot in the arm. Estate agent comparison site GetAgent.co.uk found the number of buyers looking for a new home typically jumps by 10.6% in the two months after a Budget.
GetAgent looked back over the last 10 Budgets and found that after the Summer Statement in 2020, the number of mortgages approved in the following two months rose by 259%.
The biggest factor was the stamp duty holiday, which allowed buyers to save thousands of pounds in tax.
However, not every Budget has sparked a buying frenzy. Following Kwasi Kwarteng’s disastrous mini-budget in October 2022, mortgage approvals actually fell by 22.1% over two months.
Three in a Row
The good news is that the property market seems to have recovered from the mini-budget chaos. Over the last three Budgets, mortgage approvals have increased in the following two months – by 19.6% after March 2022, 16.4% after November 2022 and 4.6% after March this year.
That’s an average increase of 12.6%.
What The Experts Say
Colby Short, CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, said: “The budget can be an incredibly influential force when it comes to property market momentum and there’s no clearer example of the impact it can have than the introduction of the stamp duty holiday and the shambolic Truss Mini Budget.
“Generally speaking, they tend to spur a post-Budget uplift in buyer activity and this has certainly been the case following the last three. It’s not always a case of positive property market initiatives driving this increase, it can simply be down to a wait-and-see mentality in the lead up, which then gives way to a business-as-usual approach from buyers.
“Top agents are often aware of these trends and will have these statements earmarked in their calendar in order to ride any immediate waves of positivity, or to negate any negative impact.”
So will the goverment deliver a Budget boost for buyers and sellers this autumn? We’ll have to wait and see…