The Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced two initiatives to keep the property market firing on all cylinders into 2021.

Firstly, the £500,000 zero-rate Stamp Duty band has been extended to June 30 2021. Afterwards it will phase down to £250,000 for an additional three months, returning to the pre-pandemic levels on the 1st October 2021.

Secondly, Mr Sunak announced a scheme that will allow first-time buyers to buy their home with a 5% deposit from this April.

Let me look at what each initiative means to the Twickenham property market.

Coming out of the first lockdown in the early summer of 2020, there was a lot of apprehension that the British property market would flounder. Therefore, when the Stamp Duty Holiday was announced back in July 2020 to boost the property market, the deadline was set at March 31 2021.

Little did anyone know of the snowball effect of people wanting to move because of the initial lockdown in the spring of 2020, the pent-up demand following the conclusion of the EU negotiations with the subsequent 'Boris Bounce' and then the Stamp Duty Holiday which made the perfect storm for what has been the busiest property market in Twickenham since 2001/2.

The average stamp duty paid by a Twickenham homebuyer is £28,090

The reason the Stamp Duty extension is important is that many estate agents and solicitors have been warning for the last couple of months that home buyers would pull out of property deals or renegotiate if they could not complete their sale in time before the Stamp Duty Holiday ended.

So, by phasing down the Stamp Duty Holiday, this will allow some breathing space for burdened solicitors and mortgage lenders, thus decreasing the number of buyers pulling out of their property purchase because they unexpectedly have to find up to an extra £15,000 in Stamp Duty when property sales do not complete on time.

There are currently 301 properties that are sold subject to contract (STC) in Twickenham alone. The extension of the Stamp Duty Holiday stands to save them up to £4.51 million in total.

So, what does the extension mean for Twickenham house prices?

The extension has heightened confidence in the property market. The Office for Budget Responsibility has predicted that house prices in four years' time will be just over 13% higher, compared to the pre-Christmas predicted figure of 11% growth (over the same time frame).

5% deposit mortgages for Twickenham first-time buyers

From next month, Twickenham first-time buyers will be able to buy homes worth up to £600,000 with a 5% deposit and a Government-backed mortgage with a fixed rate of up to five years.

Rishi Sunak wants to turn the millennial 'Generation Renters' into 'Generation Buyers' and believes this initiative should be able to help two million people get on the property ladder. When we look at what that would mean for Twickenham, I estimate …

1,304 local residents could be helped onto the Twickenham property ladder with these 5% deposit mortgages

The Government backed scheme will be open to first-time buyers for 21 months (until the end of 2022) and available from lenders including NatWest, Lloyds and HSBC (plus others to be announced soon). It will be available on all Twickenham homes new or second hand (previous schemes applied to new homes only).

5% deposit mortgages were all but withdrawn from the market at the start of the pandemic in spring 2020 with an almost default minimum deposit of 10% (even as high as 15% in the autumn just gone) putting homeownership out of reach for all but the wealthiest of Twickenham's first-time buyers.

I must admit I found it a scandal that homeownership among the 25- to 34-year-olds plummeted from 69% in 1981 to 36% by 2014, although with certain Government incentives and low interest rates since then, that had risen to 41% by last year, but it's not enough

With so many young families paying huge sums in rent, who could effortlessly afford to make mortgage repayments on the same property, they haven't been able to save enough for a 10% initial mortgage deposit, let alone 15%.

Yet now with these new 5% deposit mortgages, many first-time buyers will be able to afford to buy their first home in Twickenham. Banks will typically lend between four and a half and five times the gross annual income – this means with a modest 5% deposit; many Twickenham 20 and 30 somethings will now be able to buy their first home. Just before I finish this topic, the 5% deposit mortgages will also be available to current homeowners who don't have the equity built up in their existing home – thus helping second or third (or more) time Twickenham buyers as well.

How do both these changes affect Twickenham's buy-to-let landlords?

I know many of you local landlords are adding to your rental portfolio because of the Stamp Duty Holiday and with the extension, you too will save some money from it. The issue of first-time buyer mortgages does mean the demand for private rented accommodation in Twickenham might not be as strong in the coming decade.

Don't get me wrong, tenant demand will continue to outstrip supply of Twickenham rental properties for the foreseeable future, yet the tenant/landlord balance could alter slightly in the medium term. Twickenham landlords need to take a long hard look at their properties and ascertain if they are fit for purpose both now and into the 2030s. Tenants are becoming a lot more demanding of what their rental property offers. Wood chip wallpaper, avocado green bathroom suites and kitchens fitted in the 1990s (or before) simply won't cut the mustard in the next decade.

The demand from local tenants for properties with larger gardens, or the ability to keep pets or an extra reception room garden/office to allow them to enjoy their rented home more and also being able to work from home will ensure greater demand for your rental property … and the best bit, they will pay handsomely for that in higher rent.

If you are a Twickenham homeowner, buyer, tenant or landlord and you want to discuss your options on selling, buying or renting a property in Twickenham and the surrounding area, do not hesitate to contact me personally.

You can get in touch with Darren via his website or by dropping him a message on Facebook, Twitter or by calling 020 3879 1239.