THIS month, Craig Brough Head Of Land Agency at Hopes Auction Company Penrith looks at the Property Market and some recent announcements which may have an impact in the coming months on volume and prices of property coming to the market.

The property market came to a halt in the early part of March with only a few bare land parcels coming to the market. Those which did however, met with a strong demand and most parcels sold during the lock down period reached their expected values from the Pre-Covid market showing little impact on the market at the current time.

May 13 saw restrictions eased on property sales and viewings and we were able to recommence the sale of properties including a residential element.

For Hopes Auction this saw the launch of Low House farm, near Rosley a highly desirable residential small holding, this similar to the bare land met with significant interest with a good number of viewing s taking place under strict Covid measures. We are delighted to report a sale has been agreed subject to contract on this property within two weeks of launch, showing a remaining confidence in the property market.

On July 8 Rishi Sunak delivered further good news to the property market with a lifting of the stamp duty threshold on residential properties to £500,000 until March 31 21, whilst this does not cover transactions involving land it is still a welcome boost to the property market generally and will hopefully stimulate sales.

Another factor which may also affect the property market over the coming months and years came again from Rishi Sunak on the July 14 when he commissioned a report into capital gains tax in the UK. In his brief letter to the office for tax simplification he wrote; “This review should identify opportunities relating to administrative and technical issues as well as areas where the present rules can distort behaviour or do not meet their policy intent.‘In particular, I would be interested in any proposals from the OTS on the regime of allowances, exemptions, reliefs and the treatment of losses within CGT, and the interactions of how gains are taxed compared to other types of income.’

The altering of the capital gains tax regime could mean that more property comes to the market in the coming months as those who have been planning disposals and have taken advice from their accountants look to bring forward sales whilst the current tax regime is in place and their liability following a sale is known.

One area that has been widely discussed as under review is the interaction between inheritance tax and CGT where the value of an asset held on death gains an uplift in value and thus reduces future Capital gains. The review will run in two parts and as such the outcome is not expected to be known until late the year and more probably into 2021.For those considering selling property now may be a good time to discuss this with your advisors whilst the stamp duty threshold uplift exists and will provide some buoyance to the property market generally and there is certainty over the capital gains tax regime.

Hopes Auction in coming weeks will bring further property to the market with instruction just received for a highly desirable smallholding close to Catterlen, Penrith and further parcels of bare land to be released shortly.