John Minnis Estate Agents has welcomed news that Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to extend the stamp duty holiday by three months. He says the holiday has “attracted much-needed inward investment for the local economy, particularly from Great Britain.” However, “a six-month extension would be better to allow Northern Ireland, which has the slowest conveyancing and completion period in the UK, to reap the benefits”.

As part of his Budget plans next week, Chancellor Rishi Sunak will be moving the deadline from 31 March to the end of June 2021, The Times has reported.

The announcement comes as Mr Minnis announced a 20 per cent increase in sales in 2020, which in large part is due to the number of people relocating to live in Northern Ireland, contributed by the stamp duty holiday.

John Minnis says that sales have steadily increased since June 2020, particularly from England, Scotland and Wales, and that the Stamp Holiday extension will help encourage more moves locally but more crucially it will help to continue to attract investment from the GB market.

John Minnis explains: “Today’s news is a great start and is much-needed to help continue this growth trajectory that the housing market of Northern Ireland is on.

“However, I believe that the stamp duty holiday needs to be extended by at least six months in order for our local housing markets’ slow conveyancing system – which takes at least 12 weeks – to catch up and reap the benefits.

“Right now, more than ever before, the Northern Ireland economy needs all the help it can get.

“The entire Northern Ireland conveyancing system needs a shake-up. We are losing out on sales and experiencing unnecessary delays due to administrative inefficiencies and needless delays across the board.

“The stamp duty holiday will go some way in helping sales, we now need the industry to come together and speed up the sales process locally.

“A buoyant housing market drives consumer confidence in the wider economy, something which is more crucial than ever as we navigate our way out of Covid-19.

“Whilst the average stamp duty saving on a sale of a family home in Belfast may be anywhere from £20-£15K. In GB, with their higher property prices it can be anywhere between from £15-£40K, and beyond, which could be a deal breaker.

“The Stamp Duty holiday extension will go some way in allowing us to catch up and process the level of enquiries and sales at present.”

The latest RICS Survey shows that Regional Sales Expectations over the next three months Northern Ireland is set to out-perform the rest of the UK.

“The RICS survey prediction is absolutely no surprise to me. It is a trend we are seeing day and daily, in fact in order to keep up with demand we hired five new staff over the past eight months and are set to recruit a further three with immediate effect.

John continued: “Today’s news will help to support the continued growth of the Northern Ireland property market from the UK and the rest of the world, which will help with the much-needed economic recovery of Northern Ireland.

John concluded: “We hope the Chancellor will review the holiday come June and extend it for a least a further three months, for the good of the entire economy.”

John Minnis is a member of The Guild of Property Professionals which gives them direct and immediate contact with the widest possible pool of buyers across the whole of the UK including the lucrative London market, where its properties are marketed through The Guild’s head office in Park Lane.

Visit www.johnminnis.co.uk for further details.