Housebuilder says now is good time to buy property

Help to Buy extension, stamp duty holiday and historically low interest rates have created a window of opportunity for house buyers that is never likely to be replicated according to housebuilder Bellway Homes.

The Yorkshire division of the national homebuilder says now is the perfect time to buy a house.

Melanie Smith, Bellway Yorkshire’s sales director, said: “Lockdown saw the brakes slammed on the housing market, but since then the Government has done everything possible to help it bounce back.

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“And the great news for buyers is that the extension of the Help to Buy scheme, combined with the current stamp duty holiday, and continuing low interest rates equates to the most favourable buying conditions in years.”

The Help to Buy (HTB) scheme was due to end at the end of December 2020, but has been extended until the end of March 2021.

It allows existing homeowners and first-time buyers to buy a property up to the value of £600,000 for just five per cent deposit, with an additional Government-backed loan of up to 20 per cent, which is interest free for five years.

The stamp duty holiday, which was introduced by Rishi Sunak in July, also runs until March 31, 2021. During that time there will be no stamp duty to pay on any home priced under £½ million, which represents a maximum saving of £15,000.

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Meanwhile, the Bank of England interest rate is currently just 0.1 per cent, and fixed rate mortgages are available from as little as 1.13 per cent.

“The combination of the two Government incentives, tied in with the historically low interest rates have created a window of opportunity for house buyers that is never likely to be replicated,” added Melanie.

According to property listing website, Rightmove these conditions have led to more homes selling within a week of coming to market than at any time in the last decade. 33,620 homes were sold, subject to contract, within seven days of being listed between July 8 and August 31 – 125 per cent up on the same period in 2019; and 28 per cent up on the previous recorded high in February 2016.

“This certainly reflects our experience here in Yorkshire, where sales since August 1st are up by 50 per cent on our pre-lockdown average,” concluded Melanie.

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Bellway is currently building on 17 developments in Yorkshire, including Dalesway and St George’s Walk in Harrogate; Jubilee Park in Pannal; and Pine Walk in Guisborough; all of which have homes that are eligible for both HTB and stamp duty holiday schemes.