Landlords looking to sell one-bedroom properties shouldn’t have too much difficulty over the coming months. 

That’s because, stamp duty thresholds and the ‘nil rate’ for first-time buyers, will revert to normal in April next year. And that means would-be first-time buyers will be rushing to buy and complete before the deadline looms. House price completions are currently taking around 152 days, according to the Rightmove property portal.

At the moment, buyers who purchase a property below £250,000 pay no stamp duty ie ‘nil rate.’ This cut-off point is likely to fall to £125,000 next year. By the same token, the threshold of £425,000 for first-time buyers could revert to £300,000. That means anyone purchasing a property at the UK average rate of £370,759 will have to pay an additional £3,538 in Stamp Duty Land Tax.

Rightmove’s Tim Bannister said that were the first-time buyer threshold of £425,000 to fall to £300,000 then only 37 per cent of properties would be stamp duty-free compared to 58 per cent today.

“This will particularly affect buyers in regions with higher property prices, such as London and the South East,” he added.

What buyers want in a property

Meanwhile, if you’re looking to sell your one-bedroom property then you’ll have a better chance of doing so if it has a breakfast bar or kitchen island and a good EPCA rating. 

Estate agents Yopa found that properties with at least one of these three attributes, sold quicker than others of the same size. 

The breakfast bar was deemed the most desirable feature (13.6 per cent of Yopa listings had one). Kitchen islands may not be possible in a smaller one-bed property, but it’s something that 12.6 per cent of all homes on the list offered. The same percentage of properties listed had a good EPC rating (of ‘C’ or above). 

Other desirables that home buyers in general are looking for include a freestanding bath, wooden beams, high ceilings throughout and a walk-in clothes closet.