The government’s Stamp Duty Holiday announcement has certainly woken the market up, however, we are still severely lacking high loan to value mortgages. People are slowly starting to gain back confidence when it comes to buying houses. During the announcement, the government announced the changes to Stamp Duty and provided some guidelines for home buyers and owners:
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There are some really low rates on offer, but with only the odd exception, you need 15% deposit as things stand. New builds are ok with 5% deposit from your own funds, topped up to 25% with the government Help to Buy Equity loan.
Some lenders are drifting in and out of 90% loan to value but we really need the “big banks” to play ball before the market can return to normal. They are struggling to get people back into the office and get back to full capacity but are also concerned at job loss data and they don’t want to have to repossess any customers who might end up in negative equity. These are the things holding them back.
Demand continues to outweigh supply in terms of residential property so there has been nothing dramatic happening yet on house prices. We are seeing multiple people going for the same house so it’s vital you get an Agreement in Principle before making an offer.