MARKET REPORT: Foxtons boosted as buyers rush to dodge stamp duty hike
MARKET REPORT: Foxtons boosted as buyers rush to dodge stamp duty hike
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The housing market has sprung back into life as first-time buyers rush to complete deals before an increase in stamp duty this spring. And that spells good news for estate agent Foxtons. The business said it started 2025 with more houses under offer than at any New Year since 2016 – before the Brexit vote.
Foxtons noted strong demand among first-time buyers before stamp duty goes up in April in what amounts to another tax hike under Labour. At present, no one pays stamp duty on the first £250,000 of a home, while the allowance for first-time buyers is £425,000.
But in last year’s Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said stamp duty would kick-in at £125,000 from April 1 and cut the threshold for first-time buyers to £300,000. Stamp duty rush: Estate agent Foxtons said it started 2025 with more houses under offer than at any New Year since 2016 - before the Brexit vote.
‘We enter 2025 with optimism,’ said Foxtons boss Guy Gittins. ‘We start the year with the highest opening under-offer pipeline since the Brexit vote in 2016.’. With the lettings business also performing well, Foxtons said revenues rose 11 per cent last year to £163million while profits were around a third higher at £19million. Foxtons shares rose 1.5 per cent, or 1p, to 67p.
Big tech and the emergence of Chinese AI disrupter DeepSeek was the talk of trading floors across the City and Wall Street once again yesterday. And with Nvidia clawing back some of its losses from Monday, the FTSE 100 edged up 0.35 per cent, or 30.16 points, to 8533.87 and the FTSE 250 advanced 1.08 per cent, or 219.01 points, to 20,588.51.
