extension confirmed for stamp duty holiday

An extension to the current stamp duty holiday in England and Northern Ireland has been announced during today’s (March 3^rd) budget.

As had been widely predicted, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has extended the tax break on the first £500,000 of all property sales in England and Northern Ireland which was due to finish on March 31^st, until June 30^th 2021.

Mr Sunak has also said that the nil rate band will be doubled to £250,000 until the end of September. A return to the usual level of £125,000 will start from October 1^st.

The current suspension on stamp duty up to the £500,000 threshold has been in place since July last year. It was introduced to provide the housing market with a stimulus during the height of the pandemic and in doing so increased the value of a home by 8.5% in 2020.

Buyers currently in the purchasing process will be relieved with the news of the extension as many feared delays in the conveyancing process could have meant missing out on the March 31^st deadline.

Leading property portal Rightmove has estimated that the three month extension could see an additional 300,000 property transactions through to completion.

Ben Furnell, managing director of Furnell Residential, said: “We broadly welcome the extension to the stamp duty holiday which should allow those buyers currently in the system to benefit from the tax break.                                                                                

“Our one slight concern is that this may encourage more new buyers into the market and from a standing start it is already touch and go whether they will complete by June 30^th, and therefore it might just kick the current delay in completing further down the road. We will certainly be keeping a close eye on this and advising our clients accordingly.”

Established in 2018, Furnell Residential primarily covers Bardsey, Wetherby, Collingham, Scarcroft, East Keswick, Boston Spa, Harewood and parts of Harrogate.