Member Article

Pudsey solicitors see significant increase in conveyancing activity

John Howe & Co, the Pudsey-based law firm, has witnessed first-hand the results of the town’s booming property market with a considerable increase in conveyancing instructions. Pudsey was recently named as a UK property hotspot after ranking joint fourth with nearby Keighley in a top ten list compiled by Rightmove, after it saw property prices soar by 11 per cent across the last year. John Howe said: “Pudsey has been voted as one of the property hotspots in the country and as a consequence of this we have been very busy. I think it is fair to say that in this area houses can take hours to sell and not days.” Emma Griffiths, local valuer at Manning Stainton Estate Agents, said: “Here in Pudsey there is a very large demand for properties. We have got good schools in the area with good commuter links into the city centres, and that brings a lot of families into the area. There are a lot of incentives at the moment that are driving the market with stamp duty relief and the reintroduction of 95% mortgages, and I think that is leading people to think it’s a good time to buy.”
David Hanson, mortgage broker Mortgage Advice Bureau at Manning Stainton, said: “There’s a number of reasons for people wanting to take a mortgage out. The primary one is people wanting to purchase a property but because house prices in this area have increased quite significantly and due to Covid people are wanting to work from home a lot of people are looking at re-mortgaging their properties. “The investment market is definitely hot in certain areas of West Leeds and we are seeing a lot of experienced investors looking at refinancing at the moment.” John Howe added: “ Demand for properties continue to soar but we will have to wait and see as to what effect the end of the stamp duty holiday will have on the market. My advice to anyone looking to buy a property at the moment is to buy wisely. The market has been buoyant, property prices have increased but like in the adverts, property prices can go down as well as up so if you’ve bought at the top of the market, you may find that if there is a downturn it’ll take quite a few years before you recover the price that you’ve paid.”

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