Stamp duty holiday sees St Albans property listings double

The stamp duty holiday has led to a ‘moving frenzy’ in the commuter belt, with St Albans seeing one of Britain’s biggest increases in new property listings.

According to Rightmove, new listings in the Cathedral city between the start of the stamp duty holiday (July 8) and August 16 were double those of the same period a year ago – a solid 100 per cent increase.

St Albans recorded the fourth biggest annual change in newly marketed properties since Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement, behind Harlow in Essex (121 per cent increase), Hertford (113 per cent) and Wickford, Essex (105 per cent). Welwyn Garden City was in eighth place with a 94 per cent increase.

The problem in many areas now is that supply can’t keep up with demand – in St Albans, available stock is down 6 per cent on a year ago while demand is up 83 per cent.

Rightmove’s Miles Shipside said the stamp duty holiday had sparked a “home-moving frenzy” across southern commuter towns.

He added: “We’re also seeing a growing trend of people looking to move out of urban areas and into smaller towns, with homeowners in built-up areas reassessing their housing needs and looking for places with more outside space.”

Glynis Frew, CEO of Hunters, said the stamp duty holiday had helped to offset property price growth in southern commuter towns, “so it’s little surprise to see the market’s hotting up as buyer budgets can go slightly further”.

She added: “These towns are typically within a 90-minute commute of London and are even more attractive now with the rise of flexible working with people only needing to go into the office a few times a week.

“As a result, sellers here will now be looking to capitalise on the increased demand that allows them to make their onward move.”