"There is going to be a rush of buyers trying to finalise purchases before the stamp duty deadline, which means all of the professionals and services involved with processing the transaction are going to be in huge demand"
- Gemma Young - Moverly
New research from Moverly has revealed that England’s homebuyers could save almost half a billion pounds by completing their purchases before the upcoming stamp duty changes which take effect from April 1st 2025.
Today, with the average house price in England sitting at £308,781, buyers pay an average SDLT bill of £2,939. But from April 1st, this is set to grow to £5,439, an increase of £2,500.
Moverly’s analysis of sales volume data in England reveals that over the past 10 years, an average of 192,388 property transactions were completed between January and the end of March each year.
Should the same number of homebuyers complete between January and the end of March this year, beating the stamp duty deadline in the process, they would benefit from an accumulated SDLT saving of almost half a billion pounds (£481m).
Tips to buy quickly in 2025
To make sure you beat the stamp duty change deadline of March 31st 2025, there are a number of steps you can take.
Hire a good conveyancer
A good conveyancer is a proactive conveyancer – someone who is going to work hard and chase down documents and signatures on your behalf rather than sit back and wait for them to arrive. This will make a huge difference in the time it takes to complete your purchase.
Get your finances in order
Arranging a mortgage can take several weeks, so it’s important to get the process rolling as early as possible. This starts with having a mortgage agreed in principle with your lender so that as soon as your offer is accepted, you’re ahead of the game rather than right at the beginning of the process.
Be proactive and communicate well
As a buyer, you’re going to need to find and provide all sorts of information and paperwork for your conveyancer and the seller’s conveyancer. You can expedite the buying process by being proactive with all of this and ensuring you’re in constant communication with all parties to check that they’re not waiting on anything.
Find a seller who provides complete Material Information
One of the most time-consuming parts of conveyancing is the collection of Material Information which refers to all of the essential information required to complete a purchase, from local authority searches to details of restrictive covenants and HM Land Registry documents. If you can find a seller who is providing all of this information up-front as soon as you show interest in their property, you can help to reduce your buying timeline.
“There is going to be a rush of buyers trying to finalise purchases before the stamp duty deadline, which means all of the professionals and services involved with processing the transaction are going to be in huge demand and, therefore, under additional strain," warns Gemma Young, Moverly CEO, adding "If you’re not well-prepared, this bottleneck could be the difference between beating the deadline and missing it.
Gemma concludes: "The good news is that the vast majority of sellers will also be looking to make an onward purchase themselves, and many of them will require the funds from their sale in order to make their subsequent purchase. This means they’re going to be equally keen for a timely transaction.
"When you find your perfect property, the ideal situation will be that the seller is already providing up-front material information, but if they’re not, it’s definitely worth speaking to them and suggesting it’s something that would be mutually beneficial in order to avoid any time wasted.”
