UK property transactions soar after General Election
UK property transactions soared at the end of last year, according to government data, as both sellers and buyers made the most of renewed confidence following the General Election result.
Residential property transactions in December jumped 6.8 per cent year-on-year to 104,670, a 6.2 per cent rise on November’s number.
The total number of non-residential UK property transactions reached 10,690 in December, which was 13.4 per cent higher than November and 0.8 per cent more than December 2018, HM Revenue and Customs data showed.
Private Finance director Shaun Church said: “The end of 2019 saw a surge in property transactions, and this increase in activity looks set to continue into early 2020.
“The decisive outcome of the General Election has generated a surge in interest from buyers and sells, who now with greater clarity and certainty on the UK’s political future, are ready to make their move.”
The HMRC transaction data is the latest research that shows that both the residential and commercial property markets benefited from a “Boris bounce” following the Conservative election victory.
Yesterday, Rightmove’s House Price Index showed that the decisive result of the election sparked a record-breaking 2.3 per cent surge in UK house prices in December and January, the largest since the property platform’s records began in 2002.
Meanwhile, research by Rics showed that in December, 31 per cent of London surveyors saw a rise rather than a fall in enquires from new buyers, a jump from minus 12 the previous month.
Andrew Southern, chairman of property developer Southern Grove, said: “The entire industry will be hoping this jump will be a sign of things to come.
“It was a blistering finishing to the year and bodes well for 2020 as the full effect of a mercifully decisive general election won’t have fully filtered through yet.”