Rental prices have fallen sharply since the onset of the pandemic and unfortunately it does not look like this will change in the immediate future. The number of enquires that we have received for tenants moving in March and April has been lower than last year and the number of people moving into properties is low. However, brighter days are on the horizon and the number of enquires for June and July move dates looks much more promising. It remains to be seen whether we will see the usual August and September rush in the market, and this will largely depend on the easing of travel restrictions and whether overseas students will come back to the UK and if there will be an uptick in corporate relocation.

One of the sectors that has been most impacted by the pandemic is the new build rental market which has been hit with exceptionally large rental discounts, however, we expect that this will begin to realign once facilities such as gyms and swimming pools are permitted to reopen in mid-April.

On the other hand, the sales market continues to soar with the extension of the stamp duty holiday. In fact, Vesper Group has sold more properties in the past 6 months than in the prior 18 months! We expect to see a very active April in the sales market as people try to get their purchases over the line in time to avail of the great savings! In addition to this we expect that the market for sales of properties under 300k will remain extremely buoyant as the stamp duty threshold has been increased until October. 

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