Rachel Reeves’ second autumn budget has been one of the most talked-about in years \u2013 and that\u2019s before it\u2019s even happened.<\/p>\n
Ahead of her speech, rumours have swirled that the government plans to introduce property taxes and mansion taxes, abolish stamp duty and double council tax, none of which will be confirmed until 26 November.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have never seen so much kite-flying from a chancellor in the run up to a budget,\u201d says Camilla Dell, managing partner at Black Brick. \u201cThis combined with the timing of the Budget being so delayed has caused confusion, uncertainty and many buyers and sellers to completely stall their plans until after the budget.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buyers, especially, are waiting to find out how the land lies before committing to offers but, ironically, waiting may not be the best policy. We spoke to six property experts about why now might be the best time to snap up a bargain.<\/p>\n
Why the Budget offers an opportunity for buyers The reverse is also true. As soon as Rachel Reeves has laid out her plans, even if it means homeowners have to re-evaluate their budgets, there will at least be certainty and there\u2019s likely to be a bounce as buyers move forward with their purchases again. \u201cOnce the Chancellor sets out her plans on 26th November, hopefully, confidence will return to the housing market and, with it, increased competition and higher prices,\u201d says Simon Caines, property expert at BuyAssociation.<\/p>\n How can you negotiate the best price? Negotiating such a big discount isn\u2019t a given though \u2013 even in the current market. \u201cIt\u2019s a buyers\u2019 market, certainly, but it would be a mistake to assume every seller is desperate or there\u2019s no competition,\u201d says Jo Eccles, Founder of London buying agency Eccord. \u201cAround 80 per cent of the properties we\u2019re acquiring for clients at the moment are being sold at a loss, which can be painful for sellers, so preserving goodwill and credibility is essential. Persuading a seller to accept a lower offer requires judgement and empathy, not just financial reasoning.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s also important to have all your ducks in a row before you put in an offer. \u201cBuyers wishing to leverage this [the pre-Budget uncertainty] must ensure they can proceed quickly, and should have legals and financials in place at the time of making an offer,\u201d says Rosy Khalastchy, Head of Beauchamp Estates, St John\u2019s Wood.<\/p>\n Cash buyers and those not in a chain have the upper hand. \u201cPosition your offer in the best light \u2013 include as much detail as possible, and if you are cash and can move with speed, use this as a tactic to lower the price,\u201d says Dell.<\/p>\n How can you protect yourself against risks? In order to avoid this decision, you need to work out how you will cope with every possible scenario before you put your offer in. \u201cWhen negotiating a purchase price, buyers should bear in mind that future taxation changes will affect their disposable income,\u201d says Mark Pollack, Co-Founding Director of Aston Chase, and he advises not maxing out your budget. \u201cI used to say: \u2018You shouldn\u2019t be buying it, if it doesn\u2019t hurt\u2019, i.e. to push yourself for the best property you could afford. Now, my advice to prospective purchasers is generally more cautious\u2026 Any tax changes have a ripple effect so even if tax changes don\u2019t seem to directly affect you in the first instance, they may still touch your budget through the wider economic impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n As well as not stretching yourself to the absolute limit, Whisker suggests thinking carefully about the type of property you are buying. \u201cFocus on homes that will hold their value long-term, such as those in prime locations or in great condition which don\u2019t need too much work done\u2026 A good example of this is a former old vicarage on the edge of a sought-after village.\u201d<\/p>\n As well as long-term value, you also need to consider how long you will be living there. \u201cIs the purchase for the long or short-term? If it is just to flip the property, it\u2019s a very high-risk strategy,\u201d says Caines. Flipping property in the current market is difficult, and it\u2019s likely that it will be even tougher in a future one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rachel Reeves’ second autumn budget has been one of the most talked-about in years \u2013 and that\u2019s before…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":560855,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[362,748,80372,178865,393,4884,1144,178864,43511,132202,619,712,178866,31692,16,2844,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-560854","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-autumn-budget","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-buyers-and-sellers","12":"tag-camilla-dell","13":"tag-england","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-northern-ireland","16":"tag-property-expert","17":"tag-property-experts","18":"tag-property-taxes","19":"tag-rachel-reeves","20":"tag-scotland","21":"tag-simon-caines","22":"tag-the-budget","23":"tag-uk","24":"tag-uncertainty","25":"tag-united-kingdom","26":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115523916059096625","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=560854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/strong>While no one likes uncertainty, it does create opportunity for those up for taking a risk. \u201cPeople want to move, but they\u2019re holding back; not because they can\u2019t afford to buy, but because they don\u2019t know what\u2019s coming next,\u201d says Claire Whisker, Founder of First In The Door. \u201cPeriods of uncertainty almost always create opportunity for buyers. When sentiment dips, competition tends to ease and some vendors, particularly those who need to sell now, are keen to agree a deal quickly and are therefore more willing to negotiate on price.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/strong>At the moment, our experts say that buyers can get anywhere between 5 and 20 per cent off asking prices, depending on their position and that of the seller. \u201cA slower market means sellers are more open to offers than they have been for years, with discounts of 5 per cent to 10 per cent common,\u201d says Caines.
<\/strong>While putting an offer in pre-Budget might allow you to reap the benefit of vendors accepting lower-than-usual offers, it\u2019s unlikely you will complete the transaction before the Chancellor\u2019s announcements. \u201cIf changes are announced in the Budget, transactions in progress could be impacted and buyers may find themselves in the undesirable position of having to decide, with the help of their advisers, whether they are still willing to go ahead at the agreed price,\u201d says Eccles.<\/p>\n