Thoughts on stamp duty holiday being extended?

[hopefully2021]

Just curious for people's opinions on whether you think the stamp duty holiday will be extended past 30th June or if the current proposal will go ahead?

It'd suit me if it did as trying to get our move over the line! But no I don't think so, as normal life seems to be on the horizon (if the goalposts aren't moved).

I think (🙏) they MIGHT say, anyone that past a certain point in the process on 30th June will be allowed to complete beyond the deadline without the charge.

But if I had to put money on, it would be that it ends on 30th.

It doesn’t fully end on 30th June, you can still make a small saving till 30th September and I don’t think they will extend any further.

No extension - it's tapered after 30 June anyway

The property market is turbo charged at the moment, why on earth does it need a tax boost? It just goes straight on to asking prices. Perhaps we could give a tax incentive to Amazon and Starbucks while were at it. I don't think it will get extended and I bloody well hope I'm right.

I think (🙏) they MIGHT say, anyone that past a certain point in the process on 30th June will be allowed to complete beyond the deadline without the charge.

That won't happen, sadly. I looked into it loads as it'd have helped us massively, but it'd require massive legislative changes to tax law. There is no point before completion that tax can be calculated as due; so it'll remain completion.

I also don't think that they'll extend it this time, as property is doing well by itself, but I imagine it'll be a consideration if things take a turn for the worse and the economy requires the stimulation still.

If we push ahead with opening more things, I can't see the benefit in extending it, from a Government point of view.

@RolloTomassi it would suit me too but I personally don't think it will however some friends had opposite opinions to me, I'm keeping my fingers crossed some incentive is going to be given to us who are so far along in the process but probably won't complete by the deadline!

@Itscoldouthere yes I know it's tapered after 30th June but no saving for a FTB after the deadline as we are exempt on the first £300k anyway....

They would be mad if they made any exceptions, as there will always be people who miss out, it would just muddy the waters even more.
I feel sorry for all the people being pushed hard to get to this date, but I think anyone who can’t actually afford to pay the stamp duty if it misses the date should have really considered it more before agreeing to buy in the current market.
Personally I think the whole stamp duty holiday has caused more problems in the property market than it solved, but I know others won’t agree with me.

@Itscoldouthere part of me feels like the stamp duty savings were factored into property prices so will be extremely annoying if we then have to fork out for the stamp duty too. But I agree there will always be people who miss out - it's just down to a bit of luck at the moment I think for those who are close to exchange/complete but are being held up for issues outside of their control (slow conveyancers / searches etc)

When they extended it last time, it was because there was no tapering, just a cliff edge end after March. This time they have tapered it so there's a saving until Sept and everyone has had enough time and notice to complete by then. So no, I don't see another extension happening. They may keep the half rate from Sept going for longer if they decide they still want to keep the housing market boost going, but that's the only thing I could see changing.

@NicFairy

When they extended it last time, it was because there was no tapering, just a cliff edge end after March. This time they have tapered it so there's a saving until Sept and everyone has had enough time and notice to complete by then. So no, I don't see another extension happening. They may keep the half rate from Sept going for longer if they decide they still want to keep the housing market boost going, but that's the only thing I could see changing.

Agree with this, I can see the September one being extended personally.

I think there's an outside chance that the zero rate band will remain at 500k indefinitely and the september reduction will be scrapped but only because dishy Rishi has eyes on becoming PM and this is a nice easy way to endear himself to a portion of the electorate that he can recoup elsewhere without people noticing too much

I stand to gain the full amount but I don't think it will or should be. It would be great if it was extended for two weeks for those who have already exchanged, but don't think that's going to happen.

I think they've realised it was a stupid idea in the first place. So no, OP.

Not a chance.

I hope not, I want my sale to complete as soon as possible, not give the buyers another reason to drag their feet!

Tapering already in place, so can’t see an extension happening.

For the life of me I can't get my head round the reasoning behind this stupid stamp duty holiday. UK housing is in a dreadful state ... I can think of so many better ways all that lost revenue could have been spent.

I'm gutted. My buyers are ready to go. We now have confirmation that our mortgage is in place, and all our searches etc are done, so we are ready to go. But our sellers who are going into rented, haven't even begun looking for somewhere to rent. So we've got no chance of making the deadline for the end of the month.

Grrrrrrrrr

Have they said that you've got no chance of making deadline @Lelliebellieboo? Around here rentals move incredibly fast and it would definitely be possible.

Alternatively, could be worth trying to negotiate splitting some SDLT savings with them if they vacate by X date!

@Dinosauraddict

Have they said that you've got no chance of making deadline *@Lelliebellieboo*? Around here rentals move incredibly fast and it would definitely be possible.

I'm not sure. The problem we have is that they are using Purple Bricks, who basically offer no after-sales support. So they only seem to know what's happening because I've text the vendor to give them an update. They've said they'll do what they can, but what's the likelihood that they'll find something ready in three weeks when they only started actively looking this week?

I have emailed my solicitor and said that I'm more than happy to pay for them to have a hotel for a month if necessary as that would still be cheaper than paying the £7k stamp duty! LOL

No, because as PP pointed out the tapering was to avoid the cliff edge effect for those who miss the deadline.

And it has served its purpose: kept the property market afloat / booming when otherwise sales could have plummeted due to fears of Brexit, people furloughed and losing jobs, the difficulty of arranging viewings, surveys etc during lockdown.

I know it seems like a break for the already luckiest - but the property market, even with the SDLT hol is worth billions to the Gvt.

The SDLT for those lower down chains kept the buying going so that those in expensive properties above the SDLT hol threshold were still paying huge amounts of tax.

Every Estate Agent, surveyor, removal company earns VAT for the government

Every person employed in those industries - and many other which are dependent on the property market - did not need to claim furlough money. They continued to pay tax - on money which came from homebuyers.

It's a valid question to ask why the tax exists at all - people paying £15k to the government (plus the VAT on all those services) in order to house themselves.

Most people just want a secure home for their family, and spend their hard earned money accordingly, paying the mortgage - most are not greedy entitled mini property developers.

I dont want it extended. Its made the market go insane.

@UpTheJunktion agreed, excellent post 👏

@UpTheJunktion great post!

100% agreed on the question of the validity of the tax full stop considering the revenue already being generated for the government from people purchasing property - especially those needing renovation / refurbishment