IF YOU are planning to rent out your property but have decided to wait until the New Year to put it on the market you may want to think again.

Delaying until January will mean you will miss out on the significant surge of interest typically seen online over Christmas and New Year.

Statistics show that last year there were nine million page views on Rightmove on Christmas Day; 1.4 million people visited Rightmove on New Year’s Day, browsing 27 million pages, and this rose to a massive 2.2 million visitors browsing 35 million pages on the first working day of 2014.

By the middle of January, the number of visitors to the portal and the quantity of page views rose even further but, crucially, so did the number of properties listed.

So if you want exposure to millions of people during a period when many other landlords may be holding back until the festive season is over, then putting your property on the market before Christmas is a shrewd move.

Likewise, if you’ve been trying to sell your property but have been unsuccessful, putting it on the rental market now could be the solution.

You will benefit from the high rental demand that we always see at this time and, if you choose to let for just 6 months, you can try selling again in the summer when the sales market is usually a lot busier.

So don’t wait until the New Year, give your property the chance to grab the spotlight over the festive season and put yourself ahead of the competition in 2015.

The Stamp Duty changes announced by George Osborne in his autumn statement are likely to have a positive impact on investors, who may now consider a greater variety of properties due to these changes; where previously a property at £275,000 would have incurred a three per cent stamp duty rate of £8,250 – immediately reducing the return on investment in the first year – this will now be just £3,750.

With more investors entering the market, tenants will benefit from more choice of properties.

As demand for small family homes is increasing – and this type of property would usually have incurred a high stamp duty cost for investors – these changes are likely to improve the availability of this type of property, which will be good for tenants.