City bonuses won't affect London property market
Thursday, 20 January 2011 2:55 PM
An expert has played down speculation about big City payouts and how they could influence the London property market.
Real estate search company Sourcing Property has said that it is unconvinced by warnings that 2011 bonuses will have a major impact on the property market, as has happened in the past around February and March.
Company director Jo Eccles suggested that bonus payouts' effect on property in the capital would likely be much smaller than many have predicted.
"Vendors and estate agents get excited when they see the headlines about big bonus payouts; however, it's important to remember that these bonuses tend to be for the top ten per cent performers in each organisation, rather than the company as a whole," Eccles explained.
She added: "Also, bonuses are not paid 100 per cent in cash. For example, this year, from a £1 million bonus, £500,000 will be taken in tax and typically two thirds will be paid in shares, so the actual cash sum will be approximately £166,000."
The expert went on to say that what would be "most likely" to affect the spring market was the introduction of a five per cent stamp duty on property purchases over £1 million, scheduled for April 6, 2011.
She suggested that the coming two months would see "heightened activity" at the top end of the London market as a result.
-
Tags:
- buying ,
- finance ,
- investment ,
- london ,
- luxury homes ,
- selling ,
- south east ,
- uk property news
