London Property Deals Taking Longer To Conclude

While the demand for property in the past six months has been welcomed by many people in the property market, the heightened demand has caused other problems for people to deal with.

With so many people looking to make a move, many professionals and organisations in the industry have been inundated with work. This has placed these people under significant pressure. When you consider that virtually every workforce or business sector have been hampered by the pandemic, it is easy to see that many professionals in the housing sector are struggling to keep up with demand.

Therefore, there have been delays, and one recent study suggests property deals are taking 29% longer than average to sell once an offer has been made.

Buyers and vendors need more time to conclude deals

The time taken to sell property is said to have increased from 96 days to 124 days. With the stamp duty holiday deadline in place, there has been a pressing need for deals to conclude as quickly as possible.

Of course, many people are likely to miss out on the stamp duty holiday deadline, and this might impact on their finances, and even their ability to conclude the property deal.

There are fresh challenges in the London housing market

At Hunters West Hampstead, we are more concerned about the bigger time-lag which is occurring in the London housing market. The same study suggests the average time to exchange has risen from 97 days to 125 days in the capital.

Also, the situation is getting worse, because when you look at the transactions in the past 30 days in comparison with the previous 180 days, the average time to conclude a deal is 160 days.

Movewise said; “There’s a bottleneck in the conveyancing process as councils struggle to handle the level of property searches being requested and conveyancers drown under an increased workload.”

At Hunters West Hampstead, we aim to provide you with as much support and guidance as we can, so please contact us if you are looking for support.

Tom Scarborough, Movewise founder, says: “Although houses are going under offer on average five weeks after initial listing, the bottleneck in the conveyancing process is causing a headache for both sides of the transaction. Buyers are still keen to beat the stamp duty deadline and sellers need to be aware of that before accepting an offer. To avoid transactions collapsing, any offer being made now should be on the understanding that completion is likely to be after the tax holiday ends.”

Tom continued by saying; “If required, buyers and sellers should enter into any negotiation on price, before the conveyancing process commences. An honest and frank discussion upfront, could avoid a transaction failing further down the line, after money and time has been spent on searches and surveys.”

If you need any help or guidance regarding property matters, please get in touch. As your local housing market specialists, we will do what we can to ensure you make your next house move in style. Contact Hunters West Hampstead today for all your housing and letting needs.