According to Zoopla, 32% of homes currently listed for sale are chain-free, as landlords and second home owners increasingly opt to sell their properties.
In the wake of the recent Budget, 41% of two-bedroom homes listed for sale are chain-free, offering potential buyers quicker and less complicated transactions.
The North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the South West have the highest percentage of these listings, each with 36%.
Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, explained the benefits for buyers: “This is your chance for a chain-free property purchase, saving you an enormous amount of time, money and hassle.
“Around a third of properties on the market right now are being advertised as having no chain, which rescues buyers from the hell of hanging on for everyone else in the chain to get their act together.”
Coles highlighted that while the Budget offered a slight reprieve on capital gains tax rates, many landlords remain unconvinced that the Government’s taxing stance on second properties has softened. “The extra stamp duty surcharge on buying these homes is likely to have convinced them that the tax regime isn’t going to get more generous any time soon. They’re taxed more on the way in, frozen income tax thresholds mean more tax each month, and then there’s tax when they come to sell, and each of those could hit harder over time. It means plenty of landlords are getting out while the going is good,” she added.
Beyond tax concerns, landlords face increasing legislative and financial pressures. Coles pointed out, “At the same time there’s more legislation to meet, which means higher standards and more costs… mortgage rates are still significantly higher than they’ve tended to be over the past decade, so their monthly costs are higher. It means the maths doesn’t add up for an awful lot of them.”
The outlook for second home owners is similarly strained, as looming council tax hikes could double rates for holiday properties. “It’s the final straw for many people, who have already been wrestling with rising running costs for years,” Coles noted.
For buyers, the surge in chain-free properties could offer tangible advantages. These listings often attract up to 33% more buyer enquiries and present fewer delays or risks associated with chain-dependent sales, which can fall through.
