News & insights

News: 10 February 2021

A service you can rely on ahead of stamp duty deadline

With the deadline for the stamp duty holiday looming ever larger on the horizon, already over stretched property professionals are coming under more pressure than ever before.

Last summer, the government suspended stamp duty on the first £500,000 of all property sales in England and Northern Ireland, leading to an explosion in demand. As a result, conveyancers are dealing with a higher-than-normal case load. Many are experiencing extreme pressure from clients desperate not to miss out on the tax break that ends on March 31st.

“The overheated property market, compounded by the effects of coronavirus, has created a potentially very expensive lottery for home buyers in respect of benefiting from the stamp duty holiday,” says Lloyd Davies of the Conveyancers Association.

"Our members’ phones are ringing off the hook with clients worried about completing their transactions.”

At Thames Water Property Searches we are currently dealing with a particularly high volume of searches. Although response times may take a little longer than usual during this busy time, our clients can rest assured that they remain at the forefront of everything we do.

Our expert teams are working around the clock, focused on delivering the exceptional service that is our trademark.

With the added burden of Covid meaning many offices are experiencing higher levels of staff sickness it may seem like the odds are stacked against conveyancers in meeting the deadline at this late stage in the game.

Says Randeep Thethy, a partner at Kidd Rapinet Solicitors: "My caseload has almost tripled. I cannot really recall a time in all the years I have been in practice when we have been faced with such pressure.  I can safely say that this is the busiest I have been in a long time.”

While there have been mounting calls for the chancellor Rishi Sunak to extend the stamp duty deadline, the government has categorically stated that this isn’t possible.

Adds Thethy: “Apart from what we are already doing – working longer hours and taking on more staff – in my opinion, we have to start limiting the number of new transactions we take on so as to ensure that our current clients are not let down.”

Thankfully, searches are one task you can tick off your to do list by handing the legwork over to us. At Thames Water Property Searches we can be relied upon to offer an efficient and straightforward service without compromising on accuracy, quality and the comprehensive information included within each enquiry.

Our technology makes ordering easy, by suggesting a flood search if a new home is in a flood-prone area, for example.

Thethy, whose company Kidd Rapinet are long-term clients of Thames Water Property Searches, pays tribute to the detailed results she knows she can rely on during this current high-pressure period for the conveyancing industry. 

“It is very easy to miss crucial details when working under pressure, and therefore most important that we have a search provider which does not let us down,” she says.

“The Thames Water Property Searches team are most helpful and always available and happy to assist. Their high standard of customer service offers peace of mind at this tricky time.  We rely on their efficiency to deliver a high-quality service to our clients.”

At Thames Water Property Searches our dedicated expert teams are working exceptionally hard to deliver the service you require and deserve.

Search through us and you know that it won't be search results that hold up the completion of a sale when, more than ever before, an efficient and reliable service is needed.

https://www.thameswater-propertysearches.co.uk