Chancellor Rishi Sunak will extend the stamp duty holiday until the end of June – a three month extension.
The lead story in The Times this morning and also on Estate Agent today says the extension, following a fierce campaign by Agents, property commentators and economists will be announced in the Spring Budget next week.
What isn’t clear is whether the extension is three months for all current and new buyers of properties up to £500,000 – or a tapered extension only for current buyers.
The extension is precisely the same length advocated yesterday by the Building Societies Association.
The BSA say that with the March 31st cliff edge deadline fast approaching, many buyers and sellers who have already agreed sales and have mortgagees approved would be unlikely to complete the transactions within deadline.
The BSA believe that a tapered end would allow any house purchase where the mortgage approval has been granted by the end of March, an additional three months to complete while still benefitting from the rate reduction.
In addition to supporting homebuyers who are likely to have budgeted based on the Stamp Duty saving, a taper of that length would ensure that lenders and conveyancers could manage the operational pressures in a Covid-19 Secure way, the association believes.
David Phillip commented ‘if this is accurate, then it is certainly good news for buyers hoping to achieve the stamp duty deadline. It will be interesting to see if the Chancellor extends the holiday with no kind of tapering or grandfathering scheme built in or if he decides to extend the holiday to those only currently sold and moving towards completion.’
We will update after the Spring Budge on March 3rd when we have more information, however as we move towards the lockdown restrictions being further lifted and the traditional Spring ‘bounce’ for people selling homes just around the corner, then now is a great time to start thinking about selling your home and arranging a market appraisal.
Call David Phillip on 01134 676 400 for a free market appraisal or book a free instant valuation on w: davidphillip.co.uk a: 86, Leeds Road, Bramhope, Leeds.
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