Home sales to first-time buyers hit a two-year high in April as landlords fled from stamp duty charges
Sales of properties to first-time buyers hit a two-year high in April after buy to let stamp duty changes scared off landlords looking to purchase a second home.
There were 32,300 first-time buyer home sales in April, up from 28,100 in March – a rise of 14.9 per cent. The increase year-on-year was 37.4 per cent.
The figures represent the highest level of first-time buyer sales since June 2014, when there was a total of 33,300 transactions.
Prices first-time buyers paid for properties were also up – they shelled out an average £168,656 in April, which is a £20,000 increase year-on-year.
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The average deposit for a first-time buyer has also increased over the past year, up £3,330.
Stamp duty changes for people purchasing second homes meant there was less short-term competition for properties; overall the number of property transactions in the UK fell by 45 per cent between March and April.
Adrian Gill, director of estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains, said: "In the short-term, first-timers may be finding that competition for properties has eased slightly following a period of intense pressure on landlords to meet the stamp duty surcharge deadline at the beginning of April.
"With a chronic shortage of homes, one man’s loss is another man’s gain.
"Scratch beneath the surface of these positive monthly figures and a darker long-term picture emerges. The Government’s restrictions on the buy-to-let sector may seem to play into the hands of today’s first-time buyers, but future first-timers could pay the price. Demand for first-time properties to buy remains red hot, but demand for cheap properties to rent is also searing – fuelled by a swelling population and increasing desire among many to move around the country following career opportunities."