1.3 million buyers benefitted from stamp duty holidays as June deadline looms

Love or Hate Rightmove
  • Rightmove estimates that 1.3 million buyers benefitted from the stamp duty holidays across Great Britain since they were announced in July last year
  • The national average asking price of a home has increased by almost £16,000 since July last year
  • Research by Rightmove among buyers expecting to benefit from the stamp duty holiday found only 4% would abandon their plans to buy a property if they missed either the June or September deadline in England:
    • One in four (25%) said they would try to renegotiate the price with the seller
    • 13% said they would plan to buy a cheaper home
  • There is a large group of people still buying knowing that they will almost certainly not meet this week’s deadline, even in the price brackets where the biggest savings have been made. The number of sales agreed on properties over £500,000 in May was 49% above the same period in 2019

Rightmove’s Director of Property Data Tim Bannister said: “Over the past few months the race for space has overtaken the race to beat the stamp duty deadline, with buyer demand and deals being done at higher levels than 2019. Undoubtedly there are a group of buyers doing all they can to complete in time for Wednesday’s deadline and we hope they manage to make it through. It will be quite a chaotic day for removal firms with some buyers and sellers confirming last minute that they need to move. We haven’t yet seen any significant increase in properties falling through so it looks like most are going ahead regardless, though inevitably there will be some properties coming back onto the market later this week and next week if a buyer and seller are unable to agree new terms if the buyer misses out on the maximum stamp duty savings. Activity is still strong despite this first phase of the stamp duty holiday coming to an end in England, as prior to the extension being announced there was already a huge group of buyers deciding to move regardless of the stamp duty holiday. The high level of activity is despite the fact that buyers are now faced with prices almost £16,000 higher than July last year on average, with the number of sales agreed up across all regions this month so far compared to June 2019.”

Increase in asking prices since the stamp duty holidays were announced in July 2020

Region June 2021 July 2020 Average asking price
change (£)
Average asking price
change (%)
Wales £228,410 £206,900 £21,510 10.4%
South West £348,758 £320,361 £28,397 8.9%
East of England £390,652 £362,975 £27,677 7.6%
North West £223,824 £208,330 £15,494 7.4%
Yorkshire and The Humber £218,127 £204,050 £14,077 6.9%
East Midlands £254,306 £238,523 £15,783 6.6%
West Midlands £255,419 £239,945 £15,474 6.4%
South East £444,341 £418,795 £25,546 6.1%
North East £164,937 £157,080 £7,857 5.0%
Scotland £171,850 £166,322 £5,528 3.3%
London £650,294 £641,854 £8,440 1.3%
National £336,073 £320,265 £15,808 4.9%

Rightmove

UK Property news updates shared directly from Rightmove PLC - the country's leading property portal.

You May Also Enjoy

Damaged timber from Dry Rot
Estate Agent Talk

Mould and damp – what you need to know ahead of winter

With the winter months just round the corner, problems with damp and mould can become far more prominent. Autumntime is when many people turn on central heating systems and choose to close windows, preventing fresh air ventilation needed to allow damp air to leave a property. Unfortunately, the combination of warm and damp air can…
Read More
Breaking News

Rental price and average salary tracker – September 2025

London and South East see biggest dips in required rental salary year-on-year London and the South East saw the sharpest dips year-on-year in the average salary needed in order to rent the average home in that area. London saw a 4.2% drop, whilst the South East saw a decline of 2.9%. Yorkshire and Humberside saw…
Read More
buying at auction uk
Breaking News

The cities where buying beats renting – with just a 5% deposit

British first-time buyer mortgage payments are typically 17% cheaper than renting, even with a low 5% deposit The average 5% deposit is £11,412 based on a typical first-time buyer property price of £228,233 Among major cities outside London, the biggest gap between owning and renting is in Glasgow, where buyers could save more than £4,750…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Rightmove’s Weekly Mortgage Rates Tracker

Average rates for 2-year and 5-year fixed-rate mortgages   Term Average rate Weekly change Yearly change 2-year fixed 4.51% +0.00% -0.37% 5-year fixed 4.55% +0.01% +0.01%   Lowest rates for 2-year and 5-year fixed-rate mortgages   Term Lowest rate Weekly change Yearly change 2-year fixed 3.77% +0.05% -0.07% 5-year fixed 3.97% +0.10% +0.29%   Average…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Data and commentary from Rightmove on stamp duty reforms

Colleen Babcock, Rightmove’s property expert said: “We’ve been calling for stamp duty reform for some time now, as it’s a significant barrier for many people moving home. Abolishing it completely would remove one of the biggest barriers to moving, unlocking more moves at all stages of the property ladder. “Our data shows that only 5%…
Read More
Breaking News

Second-time buyers dominate demand for longer term fixed mortgage deals

Second-time buyers are dominating demand for longer term fixed mortgage deals, fresh data from Moneyfacts Analyser can reveal. Of those looking for fixed term deals on moneyfactscompare.co.uk: Almost two-thirds (58%) of second-time buyers who compared mortgage deals using the moneyfactscompare.co.uk website were considering terms of three years or longer in the 30 days to 1…
Read More