A petition launched earlier this month for the stamp duty holiday to be triggered upon exchange of contracts, rather than completion, has now attracted more than 6,500 signatories.

Property Industry Eye reported that a new petition, started by an individual looking to take advantage of the existing stamp duty holiday, had been set-up, earlier this month.

Chris Holland, who created the petition, told EYE: “People are finding themselves becoming trapped in a scenario whereby house prices are much higher, and at the same time they will now miss out on the stamp duty holiday. People are being financially punished from both sides, this from a policy that was designed to do the exact opposite.

“Exchanging contracts is exactly what it says. A contract, a legally binding agreement, to purchase a house often with an immediate 10% deposit being paid. So why shouldn’t you benefit from the stamp duty holiday being triggered at that moment of exchanging contracts, rather than at the point of completion? This will allow in particularly new build buyers, with continuous building delays due to COVID-19, to benefit from this policy.

“If you can help in any way it will be greatly appreciated.”

Petitions posted on Westminster’s official petition.parliament.uk site are guaranteed a government response if they accrue more than 10,000 signatures.

If a petition gets more than 100,000 signatures on that site it will be considered for a debate in parliament.

You can add your signature to the petition here.