Stamp Duty Cut 21 September 2022 at 5:57AM in House buying, renting & selling 70 replies 8.6K views

user1977

Chemistry777 said:

Last time it was effective from the date of announcement and applied to completions on that day. (from google)

Yes, that would be the norm if you're paying less. When there's an increase, it doesn't apply to those who had already exchanged at the time of the announcement (as they wouldn't have had a chance to budget for it).

mojo293

Hmm, so potentially if they announce something on friday, and I complete next Tuesday, could I benefit, if its all encompasing (i.e. not just for FTB's) or is Stamp Duty locked in at exchange?

Doesn't matter if not, as I have budgeted to pay the SD anyway, but it would be a nice bonus to potentially have it reduced for my purchase (£175k, so currently £1000 SD to pay).

trakky14

Our sale and purchase has been limping on for weeks, hoping to exchange this week but solicitor delays mean it looks unlikkey...so we may benefit, we shall see. 

BG88

Would this apply in Scotland? We are due to complete tomorrow. Could we delay until Friday? Any thoughts appreciated.

user1977

mojo293 said:

Hmm, so potentially if they announce something on friday, and I complete next Tuesday, could I benefit, if its all encompasing (i.e. not just for FTB's) or is Stamp Duty locked in at exchange?

Like I said, it's only "locked in at exchange" where it's an increase. Or at least, that's what normally happens. So you may well benefit if it's reduced.

user1977

BG88 said:

Would this apply in Scotland? We are due to complete tomorrow. Could we delay until Friday? Any thoughts appreciated.

This is speculation about what Westminster might (or might not!) do in relation to SDLT, which only applies in England and Northern Ireland. It's possible the Scottish Government will do something similar with LBTT (they have tended to follow such things roughly) but whether they'd do so immediately (or at all) is a different question.

[Deleted User]

knowlesv83 said:

We have already exchanged and will complete on Friday - I am assuming that we won’t benefit from the stamp duty cut even if it is announced on Friday and effective from that date. Did anyone get put in this situation on the last stamp duty holiday?

I don't know if you're the buyer or seller, but either way, just because you have exchanged doesn't mean you can't agree jointly with the other party to cancel the exchange and re-exchange once the stamp duty cut comes in. If the seller doesn't want to delay, just offer them a chunk of the stamp duty saving. Extra cash in pocket often smooths the path to an agreement

badmemory

Why do we keep having this government by newspaper article though?  It's a good job we aren't at war.  Well yet anyway.

TonyMMM

All speculation - who knows ......we are in between exchange and completion at the moment, so may get a lucky windfall, or it may cost us more. Saw my solicitor this morning to sign a few things and he confirmed if it does happen it is the completion date that matters ...

p00hsticks

badmemory said:

Why do we keep having this government by newspaper article though?

Because politicians don't have the courage of their convictions - they'd prefer to leak stuff to the press and see what the reception is and they can then always deny it as 'fake news' and not implement it if it appears too unpopular with the electorate.