AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
Summary
- Financial Secretary Jesse Norman did not disclose whether there will an extension in the stamp duty deadline but has asked the buyers to remain hopeful.
- The stamp duty relief was announced in July 2020 and is due to end in March this year.
Homebuyers in the United Kingdom have been calling upon the government to extend the stamp duty holiday, which was implemented by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak in July 2020 that is set to come to expire by the end of March.
In a government debate held on 1 February to discuss the future, the officials didn’t confirm whether the stamp duty holiday deadline will be extended or not.
While addressing concerns, financial secretary Jesse Norman said while it is still not known whether there will be an extension or not, but he hinted that it could be good news for people who have already begun the buying process.
(Image source: ©Kalkine Group 2021)
He highlighted that buying a house is one of the most stressful things at present due to the uncertainties around it and believed it is very frustrating process due to official hurdles.
The stamp duty holiday was introduced to give a boost to the national housing market and was increased from £125,000 to £500,000.
Interesting Read: Has Sunak’s Stamp Duty Holiday Led to The Upbeat Demand Scenario for The UK Property Market?
Buyers have been fearing to miss out the opportunity to book a house as the backlogs in the property market are causing delays. Recently, a survey was conducted by home buying platform Yes Homebuyers with 3,717 participants. The study indicated that approximately two-fifths of the buyers said they will cancel their purchase if the stamp duty holiday deadline was not extended. Another 25 per cent of the respondents said they regretted their decision to buy. Forty-five per cent of the buyers said they would rather prefer to pay the stamp duty than being caught up in the current backlog.
In fact, many surveys have revealed the same. The buyers are waiting for the government’s decision to come soon so that they can plan accordingly whether to cancel their purchase or not.
