February has been another long month of restrictions and lockdown although we can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. It certainly feels like that in the London property market!

Boris Johnson has, last week, laid out the governments road map for easing restrictions and ending the national lockdown. The prevailing sentiment in both the sales and letting market is definitely one of eager optimism with transaction volumes increasing on a weekly basis across the board. Buyers, vendors, tenants and landlords have been ready to get going for some time now.

With the UK leading the European charge for vaccinations many overseas investors are now starting to eye London as once again a safe haven for assets. With money starting to flow freely into the capital we can only see house prices in London go in one direction. Set against this backdrop we have also seen the Chancellor; Rishi Sunak indicate that the Stamp duty holiday will be extended for a further three months to the end of June. This sends a clear message that, he and the government, are committed to seeing the property market come out of the pandemic in the best possible health.

Bank bosses from several of the major city banks including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Barclays have all made strong statements that they will expect all staff back in the offices as soon as this is possible. This largely dispels the myth that London is somehow going to empty out over the coming years. The return of the city will inevitably have even further upward pressure on rents and values.

The students are starting to return to London. Despite fears over Brexit many of London’s top universities have seen a huge surge in applications from across the globe. First year students are beginning to arrive in the capital from many parts of Asia, the Middle East and India. With this influx we will see the depressed prices of typical student accommodation regain any lost ground over the Covid period.

Following a trend that has now been the norm for several years, best in class properties have been selling and letting strongly against even the headwind of the global pandemic. The message from Landstones has to be to keep your property in the best possible condition and go the extra mile for a tenant or buyer.

If you are looking for an agent who works as hard for you as you would for yourself, please do give us a call.