Giving you our best – every time: our conveyancing team

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If you have been buying or selling a house during the last 16 months, you will appreciate just how much of an impact coronavirus has had on the property market.

When the UK first went into lockdown in March 2020, estate agents closed, meaning that our conveyancing team’s focus was solely on managing their existing transactions up to the point of exchange, and doing their best to communicate the limited information they had at the time to their clients.

Estate agents eventually reopened in May 2020, meaning people could attend viewings and move house, and conveyancers could restart operations again. And what a busy time it was!

Just as our conveyancing team had caught up on two months’ worth of transactions, the Government announced there would be a stamp duty holiday coming into effect on 8th July 2020 and ending on 30th June 2021. Things were about to get much busier!

Stamp duty holiday and the rush to buy and sell

The Government’s announcement meant that there would be a temporary increase to the nil rate band for Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). This is the rate before you start paying SDLT on residential property and, at the time, was set at £500,000.

Although this applied to new and existing home owners, this was good news for first time buyers in particular, and especially in Bristol where the average house price sits at around £350,000.

Our conveyancing teams were overwhelmed by the number of enquiries coming in from people wanting to instruct a conveyancer to see their transaction through before the holiday ended at the end of June 2021.

Instant quotes from our conveyancing calculator

With the team struggling to keep up with the demand for quotes, we launched an online conveyancing calculator, which meant that visitors to our website could type in their purchase and/or sale price and receive an instant, no-obligation quote. This saved the team a huge amount of time and meant that people desperate for quotes could get one then and there, and have the time to consider it before instructing us.

A record number of matters opened

As people made the most of the stamp duty holiday, our conveyancing team opened an incredible 1,397 new matters between January and June 2021. For a 30 person team, that’s no mean feat!

The stamp duty holiday continues…

The stamp duty holiday didn’t end in June 2021, however. From 1st July 2021 to 30th September 2021 the holiday continues, this time with the nil rate band at £250,000. It will then return to the standard amount of £125,000 on 1st October 2021.

Just as our very tired conveyancing team confirmed that last completion on 30th June, the rush is set to continue throughout the summer for property hunters looking to take advantage of the £250,000 nil rate.

A huge ‘thank you’ to our estate agents

Aside from recognising our conveyancing team’s relentless hard work during this period, it’s vital that we take the time to thank the estate agents we work with who have had an equally as hectic few months.

Our conveyancing solicitors work with dozens of estate agents surrounding our six offices in Bristol and South Gloucestershire, however, we would like to thank the following for providing great communication, a friendly service and consistent hard work:

Get in touch with our conveyancing solicitors in Bristol and South Gloucestershire

If you’re thinking of buying or selling, our conveyancing solicitors offer fixed-fee conveyancing, starting from £950 + VAT. We also advise on a wide range of property-related matters; from remortgages to shared ownership and buy to let.

For a friendly and approachable service, call us on 0117 325 2929 or fill out this form for an instant quote.

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