Government to temporarly scrap stamp duty up to £250k?

mbga9pgf

Believe me, with the falls in price we are about to see over the next 5 years, 1% is chickenfeed. Prices fell 1.5% last month!

If you hadnt sold your house for over a year, had 3 viewers and had been haggled down on price, then to be told that your seller was holding out another 3 months for a stamp duty break, what would you do?

I personally would haggle the 1% up the chain, then offer a 1% discount to the buyer on the basis they proceed straight away. But then again, I am not a moron.

blizeH

lol @ "it's only 1%" - I won't go into specifics but it'd be quite a big saving for myself, and no doubt a lot of others too.

My expected completion date would probably be in about 2 weeks anyway, if I have to stall by a day or two to save 1% (which again, is quite a lot) then damn right I'll stall by a day or two if I can.

marc-h_2

It may only be 1% but it is more important than that. It will be 1% that stays in your pocket not just a few quid off your mortgage like a 1% reduction in the price would be. Most banks will base the LTV rate on the valuation or the selling price which ever is lower, so a slightly lower selling price in the short term doesn't make a difference. You still have to put pretty much the same deposit in.

mbga9pgf

Blize, dont get your knickers in a twist. The last thing Labour are going to do is enact a policy which will have a negative impact on House price indicies in the run up to the election, and also cost them lots of money. But, then again, Labour might be concerned that last months figures were dire, there is a glut of property coming on the market and not very many buyers and are pulling out all the stops to the election to prevent a further dip. Which should be a pretty good indicator to most on here of how fekked the housing market is and why FTBs want to avoid buying like they avoid the clap. Course, it makes very little odds, becuase between now and 2014, the banks are going to have to find 300 billion to repay the special liquidity scheme, which will ramp wholesale rates and at best leave the market in stagnation whilst wages catch up.

I think its mad that buyers are willing to hold out for 1% stamp duty but pay 6 times their salary for a tiny shoebox which they will be paying off for the rest of their lives. Dumb in a word. If buyers were more aggressive at the mo in haggling down price and telling sellers that have been on the market for over a year where to shove it, 1% would be nothing.

It may only be 1% but it is more important than that. It will be 1% that stays in your pocket not just a few quid off your mortgage like a 1% reduction in the price would be. Most banks will base the LTV rate on the valuation or the selling price which ever is lower, so a slightly lower selling price in the short term doesn't make a difference. You still have to put pretty much the same deposit in.

So, what effect do you think would playing hardball and haggling 5% or 10% off the purchase price do then?

The LTV boundaries dont work off single percentage points. Its 90%, 75%, 60%. If you were running it this close it would be easier to get a short term loan from a family member (paid back with interest) than pay much more in interest over the whole mortgage for term of the loan. You are nitpicking now. A slightly lower selling price would make you more attractive to the mortgage company as your LTV would decrease.

marc-h_2

mbga9pgf wrote: »

So, what effect do you think would playing hardball and haggling 5% or 10% off the purchase price do then?

Don't get me wrong, every little bit you can get of the purchase price is worth it as you have to pay it back at some point. However 1% that you would have to pay upfront can make a big difference.

harding1985

crazyness..... :eek:

danlojo

Will over £300,000 be staying at 3% then :@(

Could really do with losing that one ATM.

FTB for us but the house is a more expensive one:(

kaych

I am also waiting eagerly for the budget report...!
Would be nice to save more than £2000 and use it to decorate our new flat

mbga9pgf

marc-h wrote: »

Don't get me wrong, every little bit you can get of the purchase price is worth it as you have to pay it back at some point. However 1% that you would have to pay upfront can make a big difference.

You dont just pay it back. You pay it back with interest.

Oh, for anyone expecting to get this for resale, sorry, your number is up. Its for first time buyers only I am afraid.

Chancellor Alistair Darling is to announce in the Budget that stamp duty will be scrapped on house purchases up to £250,000 for first-time buyers.
The policy, first proposed by the Conservatives in 2007, is expected in what will be the last Budget before the election expected to be held in May.

From Auntie.

marc-h_2

mbga9pgf wrote: »

The LTV boundaries dont work off single percentage points. Its 90%, 75%, 60%. If you were running it this close it would be easier to get a short term loan from a family member (paid back with interest) than pay much more in interest over the whole mortgage for term of the loan. You are nitpicking now. A slightly lower selling price would make you more attractive to the mortgage company as your LTV would decrease.

That isn't what I meant. Getting a 10% discount and using the same deposit would leave you with almost the same LTV so make little difference to your monthly payment. Obviously you should be getting the most off you can anyway but dropping stamp duty means an instant considerable saving.