Richard Pike, Phoebus Software sales and marketing director:

“The latest figures from HMRC show what we had all been expecting following the end of lockdown and further easing of restrictions as the government tries to get the economy moving again.  There was always going to be an amount of pent up demand which, when coupled with the SDLT holiday and the fact that people are more open to relocating, because of new acceptable working patterns, has given the market a kick start.

“It is an encouraging sign to be sure, but as ever it also has to been regarded with an element of caution.  Many will be looking to take advantage of incentives before the government pulls the purse strings closed.  But, in creating a finite date of 31st March 2021, will we see an “artificial” increase in house prices, as people try to save on stamp-duty, and then a slump in prices when the tax returns on the 1st April?  The next three months will be very interesting as we see figures released following a summer post lockdown.”

John Phillips, national operations director at Just Mortgages:

“Demand has come flooding back to the market since lockdown and a lot of our brokers are reporting that they are busier than ever. People who were thinking about a move before lockdown have been joined by others who are looking for somewhere new to meet changing requirements.

“There are some clouds on the horizon too: as the furlough scheme unwinds, it is likely we will see unemployment rise, and it remains to be seen how long the economic downturn will last.

“But the Stamp Duty relaxation is a welcome boost, and that won’t yet be showing through in these figures. and lenders are beginning to show some movement on bringing back higher-LTV products, which should help first-time buyers.

“One thing we can be pretty certain of is that, barring a second wave of coronavirus and a further lockdown, the second half of 2020 will be better than the first. July’s figures are a promising start to that.”

Jonathan Sealey, CEO at Hope Capital:

“The 14.5% increase in transactions from June to July is further evidence that the market is continuing to recover strongly from lockdown. These figures will not yet show the full effect of the Stamp Duty holiday so we’d expect to see this bolstered further as we move into autumn.

“Although there’s clearly a long way to go for the market as a whole to get back to where it was, at Hope Capital we are seeing stunning levels of inquiries, way up on last year.

“Covid-19 has created changing patterns of demand, as people adapt to a slightly different lifestyle, with less commuting and more working at home. This is also likely to feed through into increased transaction volumes, with many people considering a move away from large towns and cities.

“As the recovery unfolds, we’re expecting to see a lot of demand from buy-to-let landlords, taking advantage of the Stamp Duty cut to expand their portfolio and provide rented housing that meets people’s desire for somewhere quiet to work at home, and better access to the great outdoors.”

Anthony Colding, CEO of Twindig:

“HMRC’s provisional estimate for housing transactions in July 2020 is 70,710 which is 14.5% higher than June 20 but 27.4% lower than July 2019. According to HMRC housing transactions have now been increasing for 3 months, good news, but still a long way from normal.

“It is too early to see if the Stamp Duty Holiday is working, but such holidays usually lead to a rush of transactions as the holiday ends rather than a steady increase during the holiday itself.”