WEST Somerset houses for sale and rent are being snapped up only hours after going on the market as estate agents report that demand in the area is in some cases up to 80 per cent higher than at the same period in the previous four years.

“Letting property is particularly frenzied,” one agent said this week. “People are queueing up and there’s just not enough for prospective tenants.”

Fuelled by the stamp duty ‘holiday’, which has been extended to the end of June, agents report that the local property market is enjoying the biggest boom for ten years with homes being snapped up by buyers who have only seen them on their phones.

Simon Zeal, branch manager and valuer at Stags estate agents, Dulverton, said a change in lifestyle was driving the boom. “Properties on Exmoor sell well at any time, but now there are not enough properties on offer, because we had such a busy autumn and winter.”

Lockdown gave people the time to think about how they wanted to change their lives and a desire to be closer to family was a particularly common reason for moving, he said.

“In 2018-19 people had time to think about a property and look at others. But now they have to be very decisive and in a position to buy. They have to act without blinking or they may not get the property their heart is set on – or even the opportunity to look.”

A detached, secluded, three-bedroom home on the borders of West Somerset that Stags emailed clients about over a weekend, was gone before some people had even seen the email. “We could have done 20 views,” Mr Zeal said.

For the full story, see this week’s West Somerset Free Press.