Government unveils Stamp Duty Land Tax holiday

The government has announced a Stamp Duty holiday lasting until 31^st March 2021 to aid the housing market’s recovery from the temporary Coronavirus lockdown.

New starting threshold for Stamp Duty has been quadrupled to £500,000 for all sales until 31^st March 2021.
Tax for the portion of any sale between £500,000 and £925,000 has been reduced to just 5%.
This change will apply to all second homes and additional properties.
The existing 3% surcharge for these homes, however, will remain in place,

The increased threshold means that buying property will now be significantly cheaper for landlords.

This is also good news for first time buyers (FTBs). Previously, FTBs paid no Stamp Duty on properties valued up to £300,000 but paid the tax as normal for anything over that value. Now, they will benefit from the increased threshold the same as anyone else.

The property market has seen a huge amount of activity since reopening, and all the signs indicate that there are thousands of potential sales waiting to be completed. It is the government’s intention that offering a Stamp Duty holiday will unlock the market and boost the economy.

Additionally, we anticipate that this will help support house price growth in the short term, as well as lay the groundwork for a sharp increase shortly before the Stamp Duty holiday ends in March 2021.

For both investors and homebuyers, this means that now is the ideal time to buy an off-plan property in the UK to enjoy the benefits of both the initial saving and the upcoming capital appreciation that will follow.

Some examples of the savings available are as follows:

Oxygen, Manchester – 2-bed apartment

Purchase price: £420,000

Stamp Duty saving: £11,000

Find out more about Oxygen >>

Uptown, Manchester – 2-bed apartment

Purchase price: £330,000

Stamp Duty saving: £6,500

Find out more about Uptown >>

Park Gate, Birmingham – 2-bed apartment

Purchase price: £191,000

Stamp Duty saving: £1,320