Duty holiday gets economy on the move

CHANCELLOR Rishi Sunak’s stamp duty holiday is firing up the economy and creating jobs as housebuilders, estate agents, removals firms, tradespeople and home furnishing companies report surging demand.

They are cashing in as vendors spend money sprucing up their homes for sale and buyers do up their new purchases.

The stamp duty holiday, launched on July 8, saves buyers a maximum £15,000 on a property valued up to £500,000.

This has helped drive house prices to an all-time high, rising 1.6 per cent in July and August to a record average of £245,747, latest Halifax figures show.

One in 20 have moved since the lockdown, according to the Building Society Association, and Hargreaves Lansdown personal finance analyst Sarah Coles said: “The stamp duty holiday has played a major role.”

One of the UK’S biggest domestic services firms, Fantastic Services, has seen bookings jump 44 per cent in the past month.

Co-founder Rune Sovndahl said its plumbers, kitchen fitters, electricians, painters and decorators are in demand:“this industry was hit particularly hard by Covid but jobs and bookings are on the way back.”

Simon Bodsworth, MD at West Yorkshire furniture maker Daval, said the stamp duty holiday has given buyers extra cash to invest in fitting a new kitchen, bedroom or bathroom: “Our 100 retail partners are fully booked for the rest of 2020 and scheduling projects into next year.”

Charles Rickards, at Master Removers Group, said: “We are fully booked across all our 11 brands and are much busier than expected.”

North London estate agent

Jeremy Leaf said a buoyant property market encourages homeowners to spend money on their home even if they are not planning to move.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said the big housebuilders are also benefiting, as Redrow, Vistry, Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon report increases in order books or forward sales.

“Barratt and Bellway also noted increased reservations per active sales site.”

However, he said house builders’ share prices have fallen in recent months. “Investors are worried that the housing market is becoming a false one, reliant on artificial stimulus.”

Property experts fear a slump when the stamp duty holiday ends on March 31 next year.

Tomer Aboody, director of property lender MT Finance, said: “The holiday needs to be extended and the entire tax overhauled.”