Property Press Online

In the current market, movers are currently experiencing long delays due to an increased conveyancing backlog, with thanks to the stamp duty holiday, which caused buyers to flock to the market. As a result of this, demand for chain-free properties has climbed across the UK, as homebuyer’s look to try make a fast property purchase.

We take a look at research from homebuying platform, Yes Homebuyers, to discover areas where chain-free property demand has soared and what the chain-free stock looks like in some major UK cities.

Chain-free demand levels

Due to the current backlog experienced by most solicitors, buyers are turning towards chain-free properties, with the purchase of a chain-free property cutting the conveyancing timeline down from 12 weeks to 4 weeks.

Currently across the UK, 56% of all chain-free properties have been sold, with some cities seeing a substantial increase in demand in the last two months alone. The research found, when comparing March to June 2021, demand for chain-free properties has risen 6% across the UK.

Cambridge saw the biggest increase in demand for chain-free properties with a 10% increase. Swansea saw the next biggest increase demand of 9%. Southampton and Liverpool both saw an 8% increase in demand, Bournemouth and Sunderland saw a 7% increase and Edinburgh, Leeds, Bristol and Newcastle all saw a 6% increase.

Chain-free stock levels

As a result of the increase in demand of chain-free properties, the levels of chain-free stock on the market have dropped across 17 of the 26 major UK cities, with Glasgow having the lowest stock of chain-free properties with only 6% of all properties listed for sale being chain-free.

The area with the highest amount of chain-free stock is Belfast, with 50% of the properties listed for sale being chain-free. Manchester and Cambridge both have 47% of listed properties being chain-free, Sheffield have 45% and Liverpool have 44%.

Although these numbers sound quite high, data suggests that it won’t be long before a majority of these chain-free properties are snapped up.

What has been said?

Matthew Cooper, Founder and Managing Director of Yes Homebuyers, stated “Many homebuyers have now accepted the fact that a stamp duty holiday saving is no longer on the cards, but that they will have to contend with the long market delays that have materialised as a result of the initiative.

“In this respect, a chain-free purchase will, at least, provide some hope of reducing the transaction timeline, and so it comes as no surprise that their popularity has increased substantially in many major UK cities.

“Of course, the downside to this high demand is that chain-free stock levels have dropped across the majority of cities in recent months, although some do present a far better chance of finding one than others.”

Breakdown of the chain-free demand and stock levels in each city

Table to show the current demand for chain-free properties in each city

Location	Current demand (June 2021)
Cambridge	60%
Swansea	59%
Southampton	59%
Liverpool	52%
Bournemouth	65%
Sunderland	56%
Edinburgh	21%
Leeds	65%
Bristol	71%
Newcastle	49%
Newport	67%
Plymouth	71%
Portsmouth	67%
Nottingham	63%
Manchester	36%
Bradford	53%
Cardiff	51%
Aberdeen	4%
Glasgow	18%
London	40%
Birmingham	46%
Sheffield	66%
Oxford	42%
Belfast	59%
Leceister	49%

Data from Rightmove and Zoopla

Table to show the current level of chain-free property stock in each city

Location	Chain-free stock (% of total stock on market)
Belfast	50%
Manchester	47%
Cambridge	47%
Sheffield	45%
Liverpool	44%
Southampton	43%
Bristol	42%
Oxford	42%
Portsmouth	41%
Plymouth	41%
Birmingham	41%
Cardiff	41%
Nottingham	40%
Leicester	39%
Sunderland	39%
Bournemouth	39%
United Kingdom	36%
Newcastle	36%
London	35%
Leeds	34%
Swansea	31%
Bradford	31%
Newport	23%
Aberdeen	13%
Edinburgh	9%
Glasgow	6%

Data from Rightmove and Zoopla

Or, fancy having a go at writing an article for yourself? Get in touch with us today!