Make the most of the stamp duty holiday extension with Alto

Rishi Sunak’s Budget announcement this month brought good news for a buoyant property market with the extension of the Stamp Duty holiday. But what’s the impact on agents? And how can property sales management software help?

It’s easy to see the positive effect that the Stamp Duty holiday has had on the property market. SDLT has been suspended on the first £500,000 of all property sales in England and Northern Ireland since July.

And this boosted enquiries and transactions to agents, to reverse the initial dip during the first COVID-19 lockdown.

Rishi Sunak announced his Budget in the House of Commons on 3 March 2021

Stamp duty holiday extension a welcome boost for an already busy property market

UK property transactions hit a ten year high in January 2021 as buyers scrambled to complete before the holiday was due to end on 31 March and house prices are now at a four-year high, according to the Zoopla House Price Index.

The short-term effect on the market has been overwhelmingly positive.

The impact of the stamp duty holiday extension on agents

However, the effect on estate agents is not as easy to record.

Record numbers of transactions and a frantic scramble to complete only served to add inevitable pressure to teams who are already working around the challenges of social distancing, remote working and the risk of staff absences.

Then, with less than a month to go until the 31 March deadline, the Chancellor confirmed that the Stamp Duty holiday had been extended until 30 June.

This is inevitably good news for the industry. Experts predict an extra 300,000 transactions in England could benefit by the end of June. It does, however, mean agents can expect another ‘tidal wave of transactions’ as we approach the new deadline.

Using property sales management software to prepare

So, how can you prepare? Alto’s software is packed with features to drive efficiency and improve accuracy, supporting sales agents as they enter another inevitably busy period.

From real time communication through PropertyFile integration, to automated email and letter templates at key stages of the transaction, we’ve created a system built for busy agents.

6 ways your property management software can help

Of course, sales progression will be key in the coming months. Here’s now Alto helps:

• Communication between all parties is more important than ever as buyers push to complete their transactions before the new deadline of 30 June. With Alto’s cloud-based solution, any updates made to the property’s file are available in real-time to the whole agency team, wherever they are working
• PropertyFile integration allows users to communicate with buyers and sellers when it suits them best
• Crucially, sales progression is displayed as a workflow in Alto’s sales management software. This is coupled with simple and user-definable checklists to help monitor milestones and get the sale completed more efficiently
• Email tracking allows teams to monitor when emails have been delivered, opened and clicked on. It’s a big help with the admin of chasing people, that is unfortunately all-too evident in most transactions
• Automated templates can cut the time taken to prepare key letters at all-important milestones in the transaction.
• If that’s not enough, report scheduling gives users the insight they need, whenever they need it. This means you can get insight straight to your inbox at any point on the countdown to 30 June

Want to know more? Discover the features and benefits of Alto property sales management software.