Moving Home in 2021?

Firstly, before we go any further, you will probably be aware that the stamp duty holiday on the first £500,000 of a residential property purchase, comes to an end on 31st March 2021 - as it stands at the moment. This means that to take advantage of the "holiday" you must have completed your purchase by 31st March 2021 - not just exchanged. Therefore any sales agreed beyond the early part of January will struggle to meet the deadline without the full co-operation of all parties, including having excellent professionals engaged to carry out the legal work.

Regardless of the above, we still believe we will enjoy a buoyant market in 2021. Un-seasonally strong sales in December indicates that there is a good appetite for moving home in North Leeds and Wharfedale and that despite all that we have been through and continue to have to put up with, confidence is still good. Also, the adjustments being made by employers as to where and how people carry out there work, has created fluidity in the market as people feel the need for more space to work from home. Overall many people have been changing their outlook on life and what is important for them in the future (what they need and don't need) and this will continue in 2021. Despite the stamp duty regime returning to normal, very low interest rates and an increasing number of excellent mortgage deals being available, also makes it as easy as its ever likely to be to take a step up the property market ladder.

How do the Covid Tiers effect the property market? If you are moving locally, there shouldn't be too many challenges in terms of viewing properties in a safe way by adhering to our government lead guidelines. Although the property market is fully operation in all tiers, it is certainly more of a challenge to travel a distance to view properties and it could involve travelling there and back the same day if there is no overnight accommodation available. At Walker Smale we have tried to ease this burden to a degree by having 360 degree virtual tours available on all our properties to give greater confidence to potential viewers that a long journey may be worthwhile and make it less necessary to have more than one viewing. Our website has our viewing guidelines available to let everyone know how we approach things - CLICK HERE

Christmas and New Year is one of those times where you think about what's ahead, what you want to do, what changes you need to make. Moving home, is one of things that sometimes need to happen to achieve your plans for the future, and if you think this may be you, you can make a start here with our INSTANT VALUATION TOOL - its not 100% accurate and may not take into consideration improvements you have made, but it will give you a start and it should only take you 60 seconds or so.

Our offices return to normal hours on 4th January and both Michael Smale and Simon Walker will be available to provide you with any advice you may need. In the meantime, everyone a Walker Smale would like to wish you a happy and prosperous New Year!