Highlights - February 2025

4 Mar

In February 2025, we continued to provide our top-rated surveying services throughout Hertfordshire, Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and London.

The forthcoming changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) in April 2025 are poised to significantly influence the UK housing market, particularly affecting first-time buyers and existing homeowners. These adjustments have led to a noticeable increase in enquiries for residential property surveys, as buyers aim to finalize transactions before the new rates take effect.

Impact on the housing market:

These changes have prompted a surge in housing market activity.
Increased Property Transactions: Anticipation of higher stamp duty costs has led to a rush among buyers to complete purchases before April 2025. This has caused an increase in transactions in the latter half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
Rising House Prices: The heightened demand has resulted in consecutive monthly house price increases. February 2025 saw a 0.4% rise, bringing the average UK house price to increase as homeowners prepare to potentially pay a higher stamp duty on their onward purchase.
First-Time Buyers: The nil-rate threshold will decrease from £425,000 to £300,000. Consequently, first-time buyers purchasing properties above £300,000 will incur a 5% stamp duty on the amount exceeding this threshold.

One of the RICS Home Survey Level 2 (HomeBuyer Report) we completed this month was located in Dunmow, the buyer was uncertain to what survey was necessary for them in which we provided options and further guidance based on the condition, age and previous work done to the property (guidance can be found on our Client Zone page). This property proved to be less than 10 years old, and we were able to provide the prospective buyer with a well-detailed report, helping to better understand the property and advise accordingly to areas requiring attention in the medium and longer terms.

Alongside this, Jack (meet the team here) continues his Diploma in Residential Surveying and Valuation with Sava, and spent two days at the Sava training centre in Milton Keynes furthering his knowledge on building services alongside their defects and how this is portrayed in a RICS Home Survey Level 2 (HomeBuyer Report) or RICS Home Survey Level 3 (Building Survey).

Additionally, Jon and Jack presented to ‘Tees Law’ in Bishop’s Stortford to discuss the survey process and to shed a bit more light on the processes behind Residential Surveys, RICS Valuations, Defect Analysis and Contract Administration.

Be sure to get in contact should you require any similar services!