London landlords testing the water for possible sales, says agency

Some London landlords are testing the water to see if they can downsize or sell their entire portfolios.

Chestertons, a London-focussed high end agency, says the move is a bid to take advantage of the current upturn in the housing sales market in the capital and elsewhere, and to tempt buyers before the stamp duty holiday ends in late March next year.

The latest monthly data released by Chestertons shows it brought 90 per cent more properties to the market - from landlords and owner occupiers - in September than in the same month last year, and conducted 77 per cent more valuations.

The agency claims that buyers have responded and last month Chestertons registered nine per cent more applicants, conducted 19 per cent more viewings, received 20 per cent more offers and finalised 22 per cent more sales than the previous month.

“As this is the first strong sales market for a while, we have seen a few landlords testing the waters and putting some of their portfolio up for sale, but most people selling now are also looking to buy something else” according to Guy Gittins, Chestertons managing director.

“With Coronavirus restrictions still in place and expected to tighten further, many people are facing working from home for the longer term and are desperate for a bit more space and keen to move as quickly as possible.”

And he continues: “We are keeping a close eye on activity across the business and, judging by the volume of new enquiries still coming through to us and record levels of viewings being carried out, we are confident that the momentum in the market will continue at least until the end of the year.”

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