With Brexit firmly in the headlines, how are buyers and sellers around Cheam, Sutton and Banstead reacting to the current political and economic climate? Our founder, Monica Bradley gives her opinions on the local property market in November…

“Far from putting people off moving home, we’ve been very busy over the last few weeks assisting clients who are seeing the current environment as an opportunity,” explains Monica.

“Although prices are softening slightly locally, most buyers we’re seeing are trading up, which means if they are having to take perhaps a lower offer on the property they wish to sell, they can more than make up for that by what they are able to negotiate on their purchase, leaving them in most cases better off overall.”

Monica continues, “Of course, it’s an unsettling time with everything in the news, and those who work in the city – which describes a significant number of our clients – are rightly concerned about job security in the event of a hard Brexit. That’s why we as a team have been working late particularly over the past couple of weeks to facilitate as many calls and meetings with clients as possible who would like to review their income protection plans, so that they can take control of their finances and ensure that they are adequately covered in that scenario.”

“Another factor on many people’s minds is what could happen to interest rates over the next few months, and again particularly if there is a hard Brexit. We’ve spoken to a lot of clients since the beginning of the month who have wanted to lock down their remortgage on a long-term product, with five year deals the most popular. However, we are starting to see more requests for ten-year fixed rate products, which in the right circumstances, for example for those who are in their ‘forever home’ and don’t intend moving in the next decade, can provide great peace of mind.”

Monica concludes, “Even if your current mortgage deal isn’t due to finish until next year, we are able to ‘book’ remortgage rates up to six months in advance with some lenders. This means that it may be worth having a chat to our team to see how they may be able to help you get ‘Brexit ready’ now, even if you’re not due to change your mortgage until Spring next year, so that you can move seamlessly between your existing and new deal when the time comes, but benefit from the low rates available currently.”

more news