Plans to boost the economic recovery, including extending the stamp duty holiday until the end of September, have been announced by Rishi Sunak in the Budget.

Until 30 June 2021, no stamp duty will be charged on a residential property bought for up to £500,000 and no stamp duty will then be charged on a residential property bought for up to £250,000 until 30 September 2021,.

Sunak had been under growing pressure to extend the deadline amid concerns it was creating a cliff-edge and risked thousands of buyers pulling out of transactions if they missed the now previous deadline of 31 March for the tax break.

I feel this is great news for the property market.

Thousands of transactions will be saved as buyers can still benefit from this incentive, rather than risk paying thousands more in stamp duty, or having a stand off approach to buying as they felt they perhaps missed the opportunity.

We are currently seeing searches taking up to 4 weeks to come in on some transactions in Enfield, and with the previous deadline many clients were of course concerned.

The gradual tapering of the return to the £125,000 nil rate band in October should also help avoid the cliff edge that many feared and have spoken about in the recent weeks. Some have suggested the government is simply kicking the can down the road , however I feel with the June deadline, then phasing it out until September, should help avoid any sudden downturn and particularly assist first and second-time buyers.

Coupled with the announcement of backing 95% mortgages, the government will indeed help encourage purchasers to get on the ladder. The chancellor will incentivise lenders to provide mortgages to first-time buyers, and existing homeowners, with just 5% deposits to purchase properties worth up to £600,000.

The Chancellor did announce the increase in corporation tax to 25% in 2023 which will feel like intimidating news for many business owners and of course property investors. However, the good news is that smaller businesses, including many property investors, will benefit from the small profits rate of 19%.

Other key measures announced by the chancellor which could also benefit many looking to move or buy a property included the extension to the furlough scheme until the end of September and more support for some self-employed and minimum wage to increase to £8.91 an hour from April.

If you are looking to sell or buy a property, please do not hesitate to discuss your plans.

Until next time

Thomas