Stamp duty holiday 2027?

[Blueysmum2026]

Market is very sluggish here in the South East. What do we think our chances are of another stamp duty holiday in 2027?

or even more targeted first time buyer stamp duty relief? It seems the bottom end of the market is struggling most.

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I don't think they will do another stamp duty holiday even though it would boost the market. As the government have decided to borrow even more interest rates are going to rise as well.

If you are a first time buyer you might want to hang on and get a repo in a year or two.

I think its unlikely in the near future. The current government is not focused on supporting the housing market. I'm glad they are not tbh. I would like to think that someone has realised that higher prices (in the past such schemes have increased home prices ) are bad for everyone, particularly because it sucks money out of the economy - that could otherwise be useful toward activity and receipts. In reality its probably because government debt servicing costs have become a real problem, with the normalisation of interest rates. There just isn't enough spare capacity.
Once values have adjusted sufficiently activity will return on its own anyway.

We are not, we are 2nd steppers trying to sell a typical first time buyer terraced property, but the traditional first time buyer market just isn’t there.

stamp duty savings just adds more onto the mortgage. Mortgages are too expensive when you factor in wages, house prices & interest rates. Plus people aren’t building the equity like they did in the past.

Because prices & lending costs are too high

I thought first time buyers didn't pay stamp duty up to £300,000? Is your house worth more than this?

We definitely don’t want a stamp duty holiday! It just pushes up prices! Let the market find its own level, and it will).

South east so yes

But nothing is selling, people Need to move houses. I can’t sell my flat and I can’t do a let to buy as the second home stamp duty makes it so so so expensive and my flat has lost 10% in value so there is no equity gain to fund this tax. It’s horrifying. Wish I’d sold in 2020!

God another stamp duty holiday would be a terrible idea. The last thing we need is something else that might inflate house prices, they need to decrease. If you are looking at taking the next step and the prices dropped for whatever reason, this would not be a bad thing for you.

I wouldn’t mind dropping, but the market we are moving into - 3 bed 1930s semi is very resistant and prices don’t seem to be dropping for these.

I guess that is why then, as @fieldofdoom said, prices and lending costs are too high for ftb.

@Blueysmum2026how much did you pay & what were the interest rates? you are targeting the same buyers you were once and that’s the issue.

People keep talking about average interest rates which we are experiencing today. But average interest rates with the high house prices vs salaries we have is uncharted territory. An awful lot of people in the past were able to take advantage of cheap lending to buy a property.

A 400k mortgage at 1.5% is approx 1.5k a month, at 5% it’s 2.3k. That is a significant cost when we have wage stagnation and fiscal drag plus the cost of everything else going up. Some can’t afford it & some just don’t want to pay thousands more to service debt.

I did read an article that this is the most bullet proof type of property and the most in demand because it appeals to so many people; families want them, downsizers want them, couples without dc want them if working hybrid etc.

Since house prices need to fall, stimulating the market would be stupid

We are looking realistically at selling at the same price we brought for in 2022 despite £40k worth of renovations (was a wreck when we brought). It seems people don’t appreciate how much renovations are there days and don’t factor that in to their calculation (ie the cost of not having to replace the boiler etc)

I wouldn’t mind dropping 40k and would be prepared to take the hit, but the next step (3 bed semi) hasn’t gone down proportionately.

prices were definitely artificially inflated in 2022, pent up demand, lots of people accumulated significant savings & stamp duty savings for some. What was your interest rate though?

I agree people don’t understand renovation costs, if you not had much done in years you won’t realise how much the landscape has changed.

@Blueysmum2026 how much is your house up for sale for?

I don’t really want to divulge any more details on a public forum.

Won"t work with rising rates, people have seen how buyers who bought during the last one have been caught out paying/borrowing too much, it was designed to help property developers and lenders not buyers.

@Blueysmum2026would you have been happy to pay the amount you paid for your house with today’s interest rate?

One I have noticed with younger colleagues & some family members they are skipping stages on the ladder and going straight for a house, saves on stamp duty and moving costs. It makes sense as prices are often in line if you look at different areas.

I wouldn’t have been happy but what is the alternative other than rent?