Published by: Alex Maile
We are now moving into the last knockings of November and, believe it or not, Christmas is only a few weeks away. It means that many of us are now rushing to complete moves before the festive season gets underway. And when you add that to the budget and the reduction in the base rate it has certainly been an eventful few weeks.Most of the property world had been holding its breath in the run-up to the budget and there was then a collective sigh of relief when Capital Gains Tax rates for the sector were left unchanged. Less welcome, especially for landlords, was the increase in the stamp duty surcharge for second homes and buy-to-let from 3% to 5%. To soften the blow, however, we then had the 0.25% reduction in the base rate and falling mortgage costs.
The mixed data from the market since then suggests we have yet to digest the full implications of the budget for the wider economy and what effect it might have on the future direction of the base rate.
Most commentators though are still expecting house prices and rents to continue rising over the next twelve months, but possibly at a slower pace than had been predicted pre-budget.
On that note, that’s all from me for this month, but next time I’m back the decorations will already be up and our trees will be sparkling with tinsel.