Experts warn urgent stimulus from Government needed to ward off collapse in UK’s housing market

Experts warn urgent stimulus from Government needed to ward off collapse in UK’s housing market

Urgent stimulus from the Government is needed to ward off a collapse in the UK’s housing market, experts have warned. 

Lockdown will result in the loss of 526,000 home sales this year if there is no intervention – starving the economy of at least £14.3 billion in DIY and renovation spending, stamp duty and VAT, according to research by the property consultancy Knight Frank. 

Warning: Lockdown will result in the loss of 526,000 home sales this year if there is no intervention

It wants the Government to implement a stamp duty holiday and expand the Help To Buy scheme. Without this, it estimates there will be 38 per cent fewer home sales this year than in 2019, even if the lockdown ends in May, while 350,000 fewer mortgages would be approved by banks. 

Tom Bill, head of London residential research at Knight Frank, said: ‘Moving house has a clear multiplier effect for the economy. Different sized businesses in all areas of the economy feel these benefits, which is something the Government will take into account when drawing up its post-lockdown stimulus plan.’