It has been reported that high-end property investors are frantically buying houses ahead of the April stamp-duty deadline.
Estate agents have welcomed an influx of people seeking homes worth at least £1 million, all keen to complete before the tax year ends and stamp duty goes up on April 5, according to London newspaper the Evening Standard.
The rate of stamp duty is set to rise from four to five per cent on April 6, meaning that a day could make a difference of over £10,000 in tax. The number of properties for sale in the £1 million-plus bracket has already undergone a 39 per cent boom this month – and there are 46 per cent more in the above-£5 million category.
Savills has reported that one eager buyer offered the vendor of a £4 million property half of the savings in stamp duty if the transaction was completed in time.
However, this is likely to lead to a lull later in the spring, with the London market settling again before slowly rising towards the end of the year.
The Standard also reported that the rise in stamp duty would bring an extra £76 million into the government purse from London transactions alone.