Property acquisitions during lockdown

With another lockdown upon us and Covid-19 vaccinations being rolled out there is indeed a light at the end of the tunnel. Until then the Government advice is to "stay at home".

However the property market remains open for business and you are (for now) allowed to sell your property, viewings can take place and you can move home, although the Government guidance is that "people outside of your household or support bubble should not help with moving house unless absolutely necessary". So great news if you are in the process of selling & buying especially if you are hoping to move before the 31st March 2021 and take advantage of the Stamp Duty Holiday. For Spring Developments this means business as usual and we can and will continue to focus on property acquisitions.


For those of you keen to start the sale process during the latest lockdown and begin the process of marketing your property there are some tough decisions to make. Firstly is doesn't look like the Stamp Duty Holiday is going to be extended and given the slow pace of transactions over the past 6 months it is very unlikely that any buyer requiring a mortgage could realistically get a survey booked let alone complete a sale by the end of March. Additionally the Government say that 1 in 3 people who have the virus have no symptoms and therefore could spread the virus without knowing. Do you want these people in your property? Wouldn't you be better of waiting until things get back to normal? However the big question is, when will we get back to normal and more importantly what will the new normal look like? Covid-19 is having such a huge impact on everyone. Unemployment is at its highest level in years and expected to get worse, businesses in every sector are affected especially within hospitality. Schools closed, non essential shops & businesses closed again, office buildings sitting empty while employees work from home at the same time juggling home schooling. The list is endless and experts predict that the worse is yet to come with talk of a double dip recession, negative interest rates.

Could waiting to sell your property mean a better sale price or a lower sale price? Recessions are certainly not good for the property market. In the 2008 recession house prices fell by over 16% GDP shrank that year by 6.9% and unemployment was high. In 2020 GDP shrank by over 20% in the second quarter and it is expected that the annual fall will be around 9.5% so who knows what impact this could have on house prices in 2021!

Despite this uncertainty Spring Developments continue to acquire properties within London and the South East. If you are considering selling a property in 2021 and would like to discuss a sale in confidence please get in touch and lets start a conversation. We are experience buyers and often don't need to view inside a property to make an informed decision. In the event that we do need to view we will follow government social distancing guidelines and will be wearing wearing gloves and face masks.