The majority of estate agents believe the Government has put too much emphasis on letting sector reform and not enough focus on boosting the housing market, insight from GetAgent.co.uk has revealed.
The survey of estate agents found that 68% said that the Labour Government has turned too much focus to reforming the rental sector.
Two-thirds (66%) believed that this will remain the case during the upcoming Autumn Statement, with just 9% expecting a greater focus on the sales sector.
In addition, 25% said there could be more of a balance between the two.
Mortgage approval levels have regained strength, house prices are starting to climb and monthly sales volumes topped the 100,000 threshold in August – the first time they have done so since December 2022.
Despite improving market conditions, 69% of the agents surveyed by GetAgent believed that some form of Government intervention was needed to help drive the market back to full health.
When asked what they would like to see in the Autumn Statement in order to achieve this, an initiative focused on Stamp Duty relief for the wider market was the most popular option, followed by an extension to current Stamp Duty thresholds for first-time buyers.
Scrapping changes to Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax also ranked high, along with the reintroduction of initiatives such as Help to Buy.
However, 81% of the agents surveyed by GetAgent said that the upcoming Autumn Statement has the potential to impact the current positive seen across the property market for the worse.
Colby Short, co-founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, said: “Whilst the new Labour Government has been quick out of the blocks with a range of property market initiatives since it came to power, these have been largely focussed on rental sector reform and further penalising landlords.
“We’ve seen very little in the way of stimulus for the sales sector and this looks likely to remain the case once the dust has settled on the upcoming Autumn Statement.
“Given the decline that followed the disastrous Truss mini-Budget, the nation’s agents are quite rightly apprehensive that an overly negative budget could dampen the positivity that has been building across the property market so far this year.
“However, the market has gained a great deal of momentum in recent months and whilst the Rental Reform Bill and increases in Capital Gains Tax may not directly benefit house prices, they could prompt more sales from landlords and owners of second homes.
“This boost in transaction volume can provide a positive development for agents.”
