OnthemarketBlog YouTube @property1 @onthemarketblog

Estate agents are braced for a slump in demand and cooling prices for houses and flats as a new stamp duty tax on investment properties and second homes knocks the wind out of Britain's buy-to-let boom.  Buyers raced to complete deals ahead of Friday's introduction of a 3 per cent surcharge on Stamp Duty ,this resulted in a 71 per cent surge in home sales by value to £17bn in the two weeks. The stamp-duty stampede to buy second homes led to £17 billion of house sales across the UK over the last two weeks - £5.4 billion of which were in London. Around £3.4 billion of properties were exchanged yesterday alone, a 141 per cent increase on the same day last year, as solicitors cancelled holidays and worked until midnight to rush through completions before the April 1 deadline.  Estate agents, sellers and buyers delivered documents by hand across London to avoid postal delays.  "In one case, we even rushed down to the Eurostar ...

Highlights for property , home owners  Mr Deputy Speaker, Cutting corporation tax is only part of our plan for the future. I also want to address the great unfairness that many small businessmen and women feel when they compete against companies on the internet. Sites like Ebay and Amazon have provided an incredible platform for many new small British start-ups to reach large numbers of customers. But there’s been a big rise in overseas suppliers storing goods in Britain and selling them online without paying VAT. That unfairly undercuts British businesses both on the internet and on the high street, and today I can announce that we are taking action to stop it. That’s the first thing we do to help our small firms. Second, we’re going to help the new world of micro-entrepreneurs who sell services online or rent out their homes through the internet. platforms such as onefinestay aribnb hostmaker  and  YourWelcome Our tax system should be hel...

UK house prices continue to rise at a "robust pace", the Halifax has said - a position echoed by the latest figures from a rival lender. The Halifax, part of Lloyds Banking Group, said property values were up 9.7% in February compared with a year ago, but down slightly on January. The Nationwide Building Society said house price growth remained "steady". Demand outstripping the number of homes on the market is pushing up house prices, surveys suggest. Affordability The Halifax said that house prices in the three months to the end of February were up 3% compared with the previous three months. The annual rate of change of 9.7% was unchanged, with the average home valued at £209,495. The Halifax added that property prices were down 1.4% in February compared with January. "Prices continue to rise at a robust pace driven by a significant imbalance between supply and demand. Whilst this position is likely to continue over the coming months, there are some tentat...