Property prices in the South West spike as Stamp Duty frozen
Watch Derek Johnson's report
The average house price in the South West has risen by almost £30,000 since the Government introduced a freeze on Stamp Duty.
There is a little less than two months to go before the Government's Stamp Duty holiday ends.
The move was designed to kick-start the housing market after property sales slumped at the start of the first national lockdown.
The freeze means people buying properties for less than £500,000, rather than £125,000, do not have to pay tax on those purchases.
It has saved some people thousands of pounds, although buyers have also had to contend with rising property prices - with the West Country seeing a 9.3 per cent.
Amber Leach bought a property in Plymouth and says the freeze helped her to free up cash for renovation work.
She told ITV News: “It would have been really tight and this house needs a lot of renovation work so we wouldn’t have actually been able to have as much cash flow to be able to do the work as soon as we moved in, so it has helped a lot."
But the average house price in the South West was £299,770 when the freeze began in July. By October, it had reached £327,744 - an increase of 9.3 per cent.
The average UK increase across the previous 12 months was just 2.4 per cent.
Estate agent Bradley MacKintosh said: “It’s definitely increased activity in the market but I don’t think there was a significant saving in the end, because it did push prices up slightly.
“So in some cases I think the increase in price has exceeded the saving on Stamp Duty."
Rose Deakon sold her home last year, but has put off buying a new home until the freeze ends.
She said: “I’m hoping that prices will drop, obviously no-one knows if prices will drop after Stamp Duty but as I’m lucky to have somewhere to move to in the meantime hopefully I might be able to take advantage of that.
“I lost a lot of my work last year. If prices do drop, that will negate potentially if I do have to pay Stamp Duty now.”
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