Boom in buy-to-let sales

With the end of the stamp duty holiday looming, landlords have joined other buyers in rushing to complete their purchases, according to recent research by Hampton.

In November, landlords made up 15 per cent of buyers in Great Britain, the highest figure since December 2016.

By the end of 2020, investors will have bought around 134,000 homes this year, up slightly from the 133,000 bought in 2019.

While landlords have benefitted from the stamp duty holiday, they still pay the three per cent surcharge which was introduced in 2016.

This means a typical investor who paid £180,000 for a home in November, will incur a stamp duty bill of £5,400 if they complete before the holiday ends.

However, if they miss the deadline their bill will rise by £1,100 to £6,500.

As a result, landlords will pay an estimated total of £365 million in stamp duty on the sales they have agreed between September and November if they complete before March 31, 2020.

However, this figure has the potential to rise by 20 per cent or £74 million to £440 million if the stamp duty holiday is not extended and they complete after the end of March next year.

There is mounting evidence that rental growth is picking up steam, with rents in Great Britain rising for the second month running since March.

Across Great Britain, the annual rate of rental growth more than doubled from 1.4 per cent in October to three per cent in November.

All nine regions in England saw the rate of rental growth accelerate between October and November, with rents rising in each region.

However, rents in Wales fell by 3.4 per cent, the third consecutive month of falls.

A month after rental growth in Great Britain turned positive for the first time since March, rents also began to rise in the capital following eight months of falls.

London rents rose annually by 0.3 per cent, the smallest increase anywhere in England.