The Chancellor has bowed to social pressure by extending the stamp duty holiday deadline according to Sharron Carle, tax solicitor at Keystone Law.
The Chancellor has bowed to social pressure by extending the stamp duty holiday deadline according to Sharron Carle, tax solicitor at Keystone Law.
During the Budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak (pictured) extended the stamp duty holiday deadline from 31 March to 30 June.
Carle outlined that this is a U-turn from the Chancellor's statement in December 2020, which outlined that he had no intention for an extension.
Carle said: “I am surprised he bowed to the pressure, but this is welcome news for house buyers, especially those who have been biting their nails about whether they would complete before the 31 March deadline.”
As well as this, the Chancellor has extended the nil band rate to £250,000 until the 1 October, a move which Carle believes will “really help buyers at the lower end of the market".
Tahir Farooqui, chief executive of Canopy, added: “House prices have become so high that turning ‘Generation Rent’ into ‘Generation Buy’ will take more than an extension to temporary stamp duty tax relief.”
Farooqui outlined that while the tax holiday has done its job of stimulating the housing market during the pandemic, and has also prompted sellers to up their prices due to high demand.
John Goodall, chief executive at Landbay, said: “The extension of the stamp duty scheme is good news for landlords and anyone wanting to purchase a property.
"It will certainly enable all of the purchases currently in the pipeline to get over the line.
“Longer term, the government really needs to look at reforming stamp duty more broadly as this archaic tax distorts the market.”
