To say that 2020 has been a whirlwind of a year would be an understatement.
However, even though the world might be in an almost upside-down state, the housing market is ploughing on. In fact, it’s enjoying something of a mini-boom. Whether or not this will continue is another matter, but for now many homeowners are enjoying life around the property market as they plan their next move.
Nevertheless, moving in the current climate does bring about several different issues than it did do previously. Through today’s article, we will now take a look at some of these.
The race against stamp duty
We’ve spoken about the mini-boom that the housing market is currently experiencing, and part of this is most probably due to the changes in stamp duty.
This once added thousands of pounds onto a property’s price, and perhaps made some houses unaffordable. The government’s decision to abolish stamp duty in some cases, until the end of March, means that suddenly house-hunters have a little more money to play with.
What’s the problem? You’re still faced with a race against time. If you find a new home at the end of February, you and your solicitors are going to have to work in record speeds to complete in a bid to avoid the stamp duty costs which return the following month.
The checklist is a little longer than before
You have already, at this point, probably taken a look at a moving house checklist.
In so-called normal times, this can be daunting to set eyes on. However, in the current climate, tasks can take even longer.
For example, hiring a van may have once been a process that took minutes. Now, there are extra steps. Hire companies have to deep clean their vehicles like never before, while there are limits on how many customers can be in an office at any one time. Ultimately, a once-simple process can become a little longer.
While the above is just one example, over the course of your checklist you’ll find little niggles like this which mean that more time has to be set aside for your move.
The standard climate issues
We might be in unchartered times, but you will still be faced with the standard January and February issues that everyone moving home faces, every year.
By this, we’re talking anything from the following:
- The logistics of moving around ice, and possibly snow. Carrying heavy boxes is difficult at the best of times, not least when you’re faced with an ice rink as a surface.
- If you’re moving into a home which hasn’t been lived in for a few days, it can take a while until it heats up. An even bigger issue to look out for is if the boiler is working at all; many surveys exclude this check.
- We’ve spoken about slip hazards, but the rain shouldn’t be underestimated later. Forget about leaving cardboard boxes outside, you’ll be left with a soggy mess in no time.
As you can see, these are extra, smaller considerations that can soon add up. The financial incentives for an early 2021 move unquestionably make it worthwhile but try and stay on top of the above as well.
