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February 2016 - Housing

A recent survey has found that a new wave of investors looking to avoid the increased 3% stamp duty charge has caused house prices to increase.

The study, carried out by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, revealed that with higher stamp duty charges coming in this April around 75% of individuals involved in the study believed that they would see a strong rise in house sales over the next few months.

The number of houses coming onto the market has had a slight increase over the last few months, particularly in London; however it has not been able to keep up with the ever increasing demand.

RICS chief economist, Simon Rubinsohn, commented, “The rise in new instructions in January, although modest, is very welcome. However, with buy to let investors rushing to get into the market ahead of the stamp duty hike, the near term pressure on prices is if anything intensifying despite a higher level of supply."

The survey also suggests, that while the number of new properties on the market in London has increased slightly, other regions outside of that area have very much flat-lined, with housing stock being 21% lower than last year.

It is believed by 72% of property surveyors that house prices will continue to increase over the coming year; 50% having already seen house prices rising already.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics reported that property prices in and around the UK had increased by 7.7% with the average house price falling at £288,000.

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