£3,200 boost to Huddersfield First time buyers

There’s a whole legion of wannabe Huddersfield first-time buyers keen to get on the property ladder and they now have a 3% price advantage over the previously quicker responding army of Huddersfield landlords with cash at the ready. Since the start of April, buy to let landlords have had to pay an additional 3% stamp duty so whilst demand from some Huddersfield buy to let landlords has dropped away, in the interim, it offers Huddersfield first time buyers (FTB’s) a chance to fill the vacuum with less competition from cash rich landlords (over two thirds of BTL properties were purchased without a mortgage in the last 7 years) who could bid more and complete quicker.

Looking at the average value of a terraced house in Huddersfield currently standing at £109,900, that means if our Huddersfield FTB went up against a Huddersfield landlord, the landlord would have to pay an additional £3,297 in stamp duty. Early antidotal evidence from fellow property professionals in the town is suggesting landlords are reducing their offers slightly on Huddersfield properties to reflect the extra stamp duty.  

Whilst on the face of it, it appears landlords are being punished by No.11 Downing Street, I actually believe this increase in stamp duty for landlords is a good thing for the Huddersfield property market as a whole.

Since 2011/12, the Huddersfield property market has performed very well indeed. Over the last 12 months, £377,762,304 has been spent buying 2,346 Huddersfield properties.  Figures from the Land Registry have just been released and month on month in our council area, property values are 0.3% lower, yet 1.7% higher year on year. These figures are nowhere near the heady days of 2004 (April to be exact), when Huddersfield property prices rose by 29.6% in 12 months.

So as property values in Huddersfield (and the UK as whole) start to stablise and come back to some kind of balance, I am beginning to see savvy landlords view the Huddersfield property market in a different light. Even with the Spring rush, gone are the days where you could make limitless money on anything that had a door, a few windows and roof. This stamp duty change has made more and more landlords, after reading the Huddersfield Property Market Blog http://huddersfieldproperty.blogspot.co.uk/ take advice on what or not to buy and what to pay, meaning Huddersfield landlords are being more calculated with their Huddersfield BTL purchases. I am also seeing a variance between relatively brisk current price momentum and softer expectations in terms of property value growth in Huddersfield, this in part reflects amplified uncertainty about the short term economic outlook (eg Brexit, Issues in the Far East etc).

Now I know a lot of Huddersfield landlords brought forward their BTL purchases to beat the stamp duty deadline. However, it is probable that hunger from Huddersfield investors will return for the right Huddersfield property later in the year, especially if it’s at the right price and offers a decent yield. However, in the meantime, Huddersfield FTB’s could and should, in the short term, make hay whilst the sun shines plug the gap and grab a bargain!