Welcome to our second edition of Inside Residential, our round-up of the latest developments in the Prime and Super Prime Residential market and key topics affecting our clients selling or buying properties.
The end of 2022 was certainly a dramatic time in the housing market.
The mainstream market was plunged into uncertainty and stagnation following the mini budget, ensuing surge in mortgage rates, and now the recent rise in the base rate. Mortgage rates are beginning to fall and it is hoped they will continue to go down into 2023, encouraging more movement in the market.
The prime market, as ever, was less affected by the increase in mortgage payments and affordability issues, and we continued to be instructed on high value transactions. This part of the market is not completely immune from wider economic issues however, with prices still not having fully recovered, and a continuing lack of supply. Nevertheless, compared to the fall in house prices across the wider market, the prime market benefits from relatively high demand, and from overseas clients, taking advantage of the fall in Sterling and able to offer sellers a competitive price, often purchasing without the need for mortgage financing. Since the end of January we have seen a spate of new instructions, particularly from overseas clients often purchasing newly built properties from developers who require a fast exchange of contracts.
And with a rumoured increase in the higher rate for the purchase of additional property, we may well see a flurry of clients wishing to transact before any changes come into effect, both in the mainstream and prime markets.
In this edition:
- Cherry Chuyao Huang, Associate Solicitor in the Residential Real Estate team, explains some of the key differences between purchasing a new build property compared to an existing property, with new build properties often being popular with our clients from the Far East.
- Nicola Simmons, Managing Associate in the Tax Group, discusses Multiple Dwellings Relief and the rogue companies that target new homeowners, often leaving them with large tax bills.
- We sit down with our head of Residential Property, James Liffen, for his insights on the prime market and thoughts on what 2023 has in store for the property market.
- We discuss the effect of the Building Safety Act 2022 on the conveyancing process and the new certificates certain Landlords and Leaseholders will be required to provide.
And finally, following our merger with Taylor Vinters LLP in January we are delighted to announce that the highly respected Farms & Estates team from Taylor Vinters has now joined Mishcon de Reya.
Our team acted on the biggest English farmland transaction in 2022 and in the same year transacted over £200m of farms and estates. Head of the team, Rupert Melville-Ross says about the merger:
"We are really excited to be part of Mishcon de Reya's private department and look forward to the new opportunities it will bring".