What home buyers should do now

IF YOU are already in the middle of buying a home and hope to benefit from the holiday, it makes sense to keep trying to complete the transaction as quickly as possible, even if the deadline is extended.

Ensuring you have all of your own documents ready, including ID to complete anti money-laundering checks, will speed things up.

You should also complete all documentation quickly when it is sent to you.

If you’re hoping to take advantage of an extended holiday after the Budget, you will need to be realistic. Although Sam Mitchell, CEO of online estate agent Strike, says an extension will ‘no doubt encourage new buyers and sellers to the market who will then feel pressured to move within a certain timeline’, the current delays mean that these timescales look very tight.

Anything you can do to arrange a mortgage in advance will help to speed up the process, but you will also have to be realistic about the likelihood of being able to benefit from the holiday.

‘Considering property transactions are taking longer to complete, if there is no gradual phasing introduced, buyers entering the market now will need to be prepared to pay stamp duty,’ says Iain McKenzie, CEO of The Guild of Property Professionals.

First-time buyers may find that they do not have to pay stamp duty anyway. If you are a first-time buyer, you do not have to pay stamp duty on properties under £300,000, and you pay it at three per cent on £300,000 to £500,000.

Getting the best mortgage deal will also help you to save money, even if you are not able to benefit

Be realistic about your chances of completing in time

from the stamp duty holiday. The table below shows some of the best deals available at the moment. Those with 40 per cent equity in their property can find deals as low as 1.24 per cent fixed for two years.

‘Buyers are still keen to move and less concerned about the stamp duty relief than many would have thought, realising they are either too late to take advantage of it, or happy to swallow up the extra fees in order to buy their dream home, especially as mortgage rates remain low,’ says Tomer Aboody, director of MT Finance.