Kentish Express Ashford & District
It’s time to make your move
The housing market has been given a significant shot in the arm after a stamp duty holiday was announced - a move which will save the vast majority of buyers thousands of pounds.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak revealed the threshold would rise from properties costing £125,000 to £500,000 with immediate effect after delivering the latest raft of measures designed to stimulate the economy after the impact of the Covid-19 crisis.
That means any house purchase under the threshold will not have to pay the additional charge - which can amount to nigh on £15,000 for properties at the top end of the scale. Stamp duty is a land tax payable on all property and land purchases. It’s paid as the sale is completed and is determined by the price paid.
And the impact was immediate too on those looking at the housing market.
Rightmove reported that in the first half an hour of the announcement, traffic to its site rocketed by 22%.
Its property expert, Miles Shipside, said: “Lockdown prevented 175,000 would be sellers from coming to market so we hope this stamp duty holiday will provide the spur for those missing movers to come to market. They will find there’s currently record demand for their properties from prospective buyers, with Rightmove enquiries to agents now double what they were before lockdown.
“Home-movers will be grateful that the changes come into effect straight away so they don’t have to delay their plans, and what we could see now is people rushing to get a price agreed before some sellers put their prices up in the hope people will be able to pay more because of the tax savings.”
Stamp duty rises according to the value of the property you are buying - and can prove a major stumbling block for those looking to secure homes in the more expensive regions of the country. For example, in the South East, the average asking price of a house of £419,595 sparks a tax bill of £10,980.
Richard Donnell, research & insight director at Zoopla said: “The immediate increase in the stamp duty threshold will help sustain the rebound in housing market activity across
England. The government will expect the change to stimulate more housing sales over the second half of the year and that savings made by buyers will be reinvested in home improvements, white goods and furniture.”
With house prices currently in a dip since lockdown brought the market to a standstill and derailed the plans of many, it seems there is unlikely to be a better time for those looking to make the move with the stamp duty savings in force until March.
Estate agents aren’t the only businesses to have seen a surge in house hunter interest.
Nationwide Building Society said its mortgage affordability calculator saw a 61% increase in usage the day of the Chanceller’s announcement compared with a week earlier.
Matthew Pratt, chief exec at house-builder Redrow, also welcomed the announcement.
He said: “The immediate implementation of the measures is positive, waiting risked the market grinding to a halt. Now we can be confident the measures will get people moving and spending.”
The Stamp Duty Land Tax was introduced in its current form in December 2013 and applies to people who buy a property or land over a certain price the portion of the property price which falls within each band. Buyers of second homes - whether buy-to-let or holiday homes - paid a 3% surcharge over the standard rate.