Doug Crawford, CEO of My Home Move, comments on the Autumn Statement:

Stamp duty increases for additional properties will turbo-charge the housing market before April

“The stamp duty changes will turbo-charge the housing market over the next four months as buy-to-let landlords and holiday home buyers race to beat the deadline before the changes bite in April. This will inevitably push up property prices in the short term, especially in locations popular with buy-to-let investors, such as London.

“However, this measure will change the economics for investors in the long-term. Currently the buy-to-let market accounts for 14% of property transactions annually and we wouldn’t be surprised to see this figure fall over the second half of 2016.”

New funding for shared ownership homes

“More money and new targets are one thing, but building the right houses where people need them is much more difficult to deliver. It is great news that the Government is tackling the chronic housing shortage head on; however the important thing is to make sure the right houses get built where they are needed most.

“The supply has been so limited in some parts of the market recently that we have seen a rise in gazumping, with close to a third (30%) of the estate agents we work with reporting an increase in the last three months.*

“First time buyers have been struggling the most so this support announced for them today is vital. However, there is a big question mark over the popularity of shared ownership as a solution. Three fifths (63%) of UK adults we surveyed recently agreed that a home is not really affordable if it can only be purchased through shared ownership.**

New help to buy scheme for London

“This will be a popular policy and rightly so, given how hard first time buyers find it to step onto London’s housing ladder. But support for buyers with small deposits isn’t enough on its own.  Without more house building in London this will only push up house prices further.”