The latest research by lettings and estate agent, Benham and Reeves, has found that London, Manchester and Birmingham are home to the largest outright number of homes listed for sale at £500,000 or less.
Belfast, Swansea and Aberdeen are the cities with the largest proportion of property stock listed at £500,000 or less as a percentage of all homes listed for sale.
London is also home to the largest number of pending sales due to benefit immediately from the stamp duty holiday.
Benham and Reeves looked at current property stock levels listed for sale on Rightmove across 23 major UK cities to see how many were for sale within the new stamp duty free threshold of £500,000.
Benham and Reeves also looked at which city was home to the highest percentage of stock in this price range and which has the most homes sold subject to contract or under offer, to see where would enjoy the most immediate stamp duty free boost for homebuyers.
Major UK Cities
The figures show that London (42,422), Manchester (7,365) and Birmingham (7,011) are home to the highest levels of outright property stock currently for sale at £500,000 or less. Liverpool, Bristol, Nottingham and Glasgow also ranked amongst the highest.
London also ranks as the city where homebuyers are due to see the most immediate benefit. Of the 42,422 homes listed for sale, 16,409 are already sold subject to contract or under offer. Manchester (3,498) and Bristol (3,475) also rank high in this respect.
Belfast, Aberdeen and Swansea are home to the lowest total level of property stock at the £500,000 or below price threshold. However, in terms of homeowners benefiting from a stamp duty free purchase, these cities are home to the highest proportion of homes under £500,000 as a percentage of all properties listed for sale.
In Belfast, all homes currently listed for sale fall below the new stamp duty threshold, while in Swansea, 98% of homes are listed for sale below £500,000, falling to 97% in Aberdeen.
London Boroughs
In London, Croydon is the borough set to see homebuyers benefit the most from the recent changes to stamp duty. There are currently 3,492 homes listed for sale at or below the £500,000 threshold, the most of all London boroughs. Bromley (2,370) and Having (2,218) are also home to some of the largest total stock levels at this price threshold.
These three boroughs are also home to the largest number of homes already sold subject to contract or under offer, with homebuyers due to see the most immediate benefit.
The City of London is currently home to the lowest number of homes for sale at this price threshold (25).
However, when it comes to the borough with the most homes for sale at £500,000 or less, Barking and Dagenham tops the list. 97% of all homes currently listed for sale in the borough fall within the new 0% stamp duty threshold, with Bexley the next best bet at 83%.
Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, commented:
“Breaking down the current property stock available on the market really gives us a good idea as to just how many people are due to benefit from the changes to stamp duty announced last week.
The figures show that the vast majority of homebuyers will be better off as a result. Even in London, there will be a considerable saving for a vast number of those transacting across almost every borough.
However, there is a chance that savvy home-sellers who may have seen the value of their property slump due to the recent pandemic will now increase their asking price by that little bit extra.
Our advice to homebuyers would be to know your market, stick to your guns when making an offer, and keep your stamp duty saving in your back pocket. You can use it as a bargaining chip should you need it further down the line when negotiating, but don’t be forced to over offer straight away.”
City
All homes listed at £500,000 or less
Homes listed at £500,000 or less still for sale
Homes listed at £500,000 or less sold subject to contract or under offer
All homes listed for sale at all price brackets
£500k properties as % of all homes listed
Belfast
53
28
25
53
100%
Swansea
825
540
285
844
98%
Aberdeen
566
506
60
582
97%
Plymouth
2986
1471
1515
3073
97%
Newport
1284
821
463
1324
97%
Glasgow
4990
2193
2797
5160
97%
Liverpool
6695
3696
2999
6949
96%
Leicester
3553
1885
1668
3701
96%
Birmingham
7011
3785
3226
7311
96%
Southampton
2916
1648
1268
3042
96%
Sheffield
4153
1646
2507
4333
96%
Manchester
7365
3867
3498
7696
96%
Nottingham
5582
2610
2972
5883
95%
Newcastle
3400
2106
1294
3597
95%
Leeds
3132
1412
1720
3317
94%
Cardiff
2927
1742
1185
3138
93%
Portsmouth
2302
1154
1148
2498
92%
Bournemouth
2938
1633
1305
3297
89%
Bristol
6053
2578
3475
6979
87%
Edinburgh
1735
907
828
2052
85%
Cambridge
838
446
392
1234
68%
Oxford
952
621
331
1479
64%
London
42422
26013
16409
88537
48%
Borough
All homes listed at £500,000 or less
Homes listed at £500,000 or less still for sale
Homes listed at £500,000 or less sold subject to contract or under offer
All homes listed for sale at all price brackets
£500k properties as % of all homes listed
Barking and Dagenham
1141
626
515
1174
97%
Bexley
1886
784
1102
2281
83%
Croydon
3492
2230
1262
4456
78%
Havering
2218
1109
1109
2860
78%
Sutton
1496
820
676
2063
73%
Newham
1540
1091
449
2127
72%
Hillingdon
1818
1074
744
2667
68%
Lewisham
1722
947
775
2604
66%
Hounslow
1367
946
421
2132
64%
Greenwich
1635
944
691
2565
64%
Enfield
1554
838
716
2445
64%
Redbridge
1195
695
500
1951
61%
Waltham Forest
1249
567
682
2068
60%
Bromley
2370
1234
1136
4029
59%
Harrow
1061
689
372
1888
56%
Ealing
1553
1117
436
3067
51%
Kingston upon Thames
976
609
367
1935
50%
Merton
1059
594
465
2151
49%
Brent
1081
800
281
2267
48%
Haringey
976
581
395
2093
47%
Tower Hamlets
1631
1196
435
3797
43%
Southwark
1179
737
442
2941
40%
Barnet
1620
1130
490
4128
39%
Lambeth
1470
1029
441
3756
39%
Hackney
752
470
282
2202
34%
Richmond upon Thames
743
543
200
2447
30%
Wandsworth
1362
953
409
4832
28%
Islington
645
421
224
2428
27%
Hammersmith and Fulham
507
393
114
2585
20%
Camden
441
309
132
2539
17%
City of London
25
18
7
259
10%
Westminster
443
354
89
4804
9%
Kensington and Chelsea
215
165
50
2996
7%
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About the Author
Established in 1958, Benham and Reeves is one of London’s oldest, independently owned property lettings and sales agents. With specialism in residential sales, corporate lettings and property management in prime areas of London, the company operates from 19 prominently located branches and 11 international offices.