Stamp Duty holiday

silverchoice

If we sold our house tomorrow what are the odds of actually completing before 31st March?

amandacat

silverchoice said:

If we sold our house tomorrow what are the odds of actually completing before 31st March?

It depends on the chain. Our first buyer pulled out. Our second buyer was confirmed 3 weeks ago and we are moving into rented to secure the sale as they wanted to complete before stamp duty holiday ends. They are FTB so not in a chain. We have been told to expect exchange end of January/early Feb. So if there’s no chain then there’s still time but may be tricky although not impossible with a chain.

Crashy_Time

jonners666 said:

Well no but this is an unprecedented situation. Personally I'd like to see them declare the current situation as the new threshold for SDLT going forward, but that's unlikely. 

If they stick to the cliff-edge, it's going to be a disaster, with people dropping offers and pulling out as they can't afford the £10k+ extra 

If it drops prices it won`t be a disaster, maybe that is their plan? The government need all the income they can get now so time to pop SD on the sellers tab IMO.

Crashy_Time

numbercruncher8 said:

The thing is, if it was extended, wouldn't the same problems happen whenever the next deadline comes up?

Personally I think it's more the boy crying wolf that the market will collapse if the concession is removed. Remember all the bad things that were meant to happen in the event of Brexit?

Of course some transactions may fall through, but the stamp duty on the average house price is hardly a huge figure.

The South East is a potential issue because prices have gone up. But overall prices have been stable at best since 2016 for many places in London. I don't really recall any news stories about people struggling to pay this charge in previous years..... and of course, those people buying before then should have some equity gains to pay it with.

Brexit hasn`t happened yet.