Extension to stamp duty holiday will save house buyers thousands of pounds - Palmers Solicitors

Extension to stamp duty holiday will save house buyers thousands of pounds

Extension to stamp duty holiday will save house buyers thousands of pounds

The Chancellor has confirmed that the stamp duty holiday is to be extended further, in a bid to help home buyers and reinvigorate the residential property market.

The stamp duty holiday, which was first introduced last July, was due to come to an end on 31 March.

Nicola Tubbs, Palmers Solicitors’ Director and Head of Residential Conveyancing, said: “Many buyers had been rushing to finalise their house purchases before the deadline but, as a consequence of delays during the third lockdown, it was feared that many would miss out on this valuable tax concession.

“It has been estimated that around 160,000 potential house sales were at risk – with concerns that the threatened additional cost of stamp duty could lead to many pulling out of the purchase at the last minute.

“The Chancellor’s decision to extend the stamp duty holiday is therefore a great relief to buyers who have already started the conveyancing process – along with those who are hoping to move home in the spring.”

The extension means that anyone buying a property that completes by 30 June 2021 will not have to pay stamp duty land tax on the first £500,000 of the purchase price.

The extension is even more generous, with the holiday extended until the end of September for the first £250,000 of the purchase price. The nil tax rate is then set to return to its usual level of £125,000 from 1 October.

In a bid to help first time buyers onto the property ladder, the Chancellor has also announced a new scheme to provide a Government mortgage guarantee for homebuyers who are only able to put down a 5 per cent deposit.

In a move, which he dubbed, ‘Generation Buy’, Rishi Sunak said: “I’m pleased to say that several of the country’s largest lenders including Lloyds, NatWest, Santander, Barclays and HSBC will be offering these 95 per cent mortgages from next month and I know more, including Virgin Money, will follow shortly after.”

At Palmers, our large Residential Conveyancing team have over one hundred years’ combined experience.

We provide high quality, tailor-made advice and we are never more than a telephone call or e-mail away.

To ensure you do not miss out on stamp duty holiday savings, get in touch with our conveyancing team today.