CHANGES to stamp duty for first-time buyers are having "little effect" on the North West's housing market, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

The Chancellor's Autumn Budget saw stamp duty scrapped for first-time buyers on properties up to £300,000.

However, 86 per cent of people who responded to a RICS survey said the change was failing to "incentivise" new buyers.

December 2017 saw activity in the North West's housing market drop, according to the professional body. Twenty-two per cent of respondents noted a decline in new buyer inquiries.

The number of properties coming onto the market also continued to fall last month, according to RICS. It says the lack of stock is having an upwards effect on prices in some areas.

In the lettings market, demand from tenants did not pick up in December, and neither did the number of rental homes coming onto the market. Lettings agents do not anticipate a rise in rents over the coming three months, said RICS.

Simon Rubinsohn, the body's chief economist, said: "The initial feedback from the market doesn’t suggest that the change in the stamp duty regime announced in the budget is going to have a material impact on activity. Indeed, the risk was always that a good portion of the benefit would be capitalised in the price, therefore limiting the benefit for the first-time buyer."