UK government confirms stamp duty holiday extension.

This extension is a “second chance” for buyers.

The government has extended the stamp duty holiday for three months until June 30, while buyers will be able to take advantage of a lower amount of tax relief until the end of September.

Stamp duty will remain suspended on the first £ 500,000 of all purchases in England and Northern Ireland until June.

Between July and September 30, the stamp duty zero band rate will be set at £ 250,000, double the standard level of £ 125,000.

This is the opinion of the experts.

Brian Murphy, Head of Lending at the Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: “It offers much-needed freedom for the industry as conveyancers have been overwhelmed by the high volume of transactions, so the extension should help alleviate the current neck and neck bottle that the market is experiencing.”

Sean Randall, partner at the tax, accounting, and business advisory firm, Blick Rothenberg, said: “Buyers to be completed between April 1 and June 30 will breathe a sigh of relief; estate agents, surveyors, and mortgage brokers will rub their hands in glee; and carriers, exhausted by the pressure to finish by April 1, will look forward in awe.”

The Chancellor’s announcement comes despite calls for an extension of the stamp duty holiday to apply only to people already in the process of buying a home.

Indeed, it is feared that Rishi Sunak’s announcement will only serve to move the end of the deadline for exemption from stamp duty to the end of June and, to a lesser extent, to September.

Andy Sommerville, director of Search Acumen, said: “The long-awaited move by the Chancellor simply postpones rather than dodges the edge of the cliff by postponing it until June.”

And Paul Stockwell, Gatehouse Bank’s chief commercial officer, said: “Moving the deadline to the end of June could just create another cliff edge, particularly as the extension is likely to draw even more people to the market this spring in hopes that it can benefit from the discount.”

Imogen Lea, tax consultant at Wilsons said: “The extension to properties valued at £250,000 or less, which will be introduced in July and run to September 30, could see more sustained growth in buy-to-let investments in parts of the country where property prices are lower, or in smaller dwellings.

“The million-dollar question is whether this will be enough to keep the market buoyant in the medium and long-term.”

“Landlords are also hoping that the end of the lockdown will see young professionals, many of whom have spent much of the crisis staying at their parents’ homes, return to renting in city centres.”

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