In an attempt to help the housing market, in September, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced a Stamp Duty cut, doubling the threshold from £125,000 to £250,000. He also increased the threshold for first-time buyers so they don’t have to pay Stamp Duty on anything under £425,000.
How did this affect conveyancers?
With many conveyancers facing an already heavy workload, it was initially a worry for the sector. Compare My Move’s conveyancing leads increased by 6.79% after the 23rd of September when this was announced, generating more work for our conveyancing partners. We looked at the time period of the 23rd of September to the 3rd of October and compared our leads to the previous period. Comparing the time after the mini-budget was announced to the previous period, our data shows that our conveyancing partner registrations increased by 41%.
Increase in base rate
Soon after this announcement, the Bank of England revealed they’re increasing its base rate from 2.25% to 3%, a 0.75% jump. Since the increase in base rate on the 3rd of November, we’ve seen a 25% dip in conveyancing leads. We looked at the time period of November the 3rd to November the 13th and compared this to the previous period. This has proved to be a common trend across our other services as well. However, if we compare this to the previous year, we’ve seen an increase in leads in all areas. While leads have dropped since this announcement, Q4 so far has seen a 40% increase in conveyancing partners compared to the same time in Q3. This shows that the workload of conveyancers is reverting back to pre Stamp Duty madness and therefore are looking for more work with Compare My move.
What will 2023 bring with the cost of living?
With the cost of living crisis and bills increasing all around, the increase in base rate clearly put movers off the idea of taking out a mortgage and facing even higher monthly outgoings. However, with a record number of conveyancing partners joining Compare My Move in 2022 and our conveyancing leads up by 70% YOY, we’re on track for a successful first quarter in 2023.Our conveyancing leads increased by over 120% in Q1 of 2022 compared to the previous quarter and we’re on track to see similar success going into 2023.