Martin Stewart: Time between offer and exchange to settle

The average time taken between an offer and exchange has reached between 13 and 16 weeks, according to NAEA Propertymark; however, Martin Stewart (pictured), director of London Money believes that "this will settle back down eventually."

As a result of high demand due to the stamp duty holiday, all players in the mortgage and home move market have been facing backlogs.

Stewart added: "We are in the perfect storm created by the tailwinds of the Stamp Duty Land Tax incentive."

This, he said, coupled with the main holiday season and the fact that many businesses are still operating a work from home policy, has caused an increase in delays.

Nevertheless, he said: "In the months ahead, two of those issues should disappear and hopefully the process can become more efficient.”