Property transactions in England could be at risk of collapse over the next few weeks as the stamp duty deadline in its current format approaches, claims HBB Solutions.

The chain repair experts are urging estate agents to have a clear plan B if things start to go wrong when the first stage of the phased-out stamp duty approach ends on 30 June.

At present, any home worth up to £500,000 is eligible for the stamp duty holiday, but after June 30 the nil rate threshold will drop to homes worth up to £250,000 until 30 September 30. From October onwards, the nil rate threshold will return to its pre-stamp duty holiday level of £125,000.

HBB Solutions has been in touch with some of the high street’s major lenders on their cut-off dates for receiving a Certificate of Title (COT) in order to complete on a mortgage by month end.

HSBC/First Direct                                         21 June 2021

Leeds Building Society                                23 June 2021

Halifax                                                            23 June 2021

Barclays Bank                                                23 June 2021

Precise Mortgages                                       25 June 2021

Meanwhile, Nationwide/The Mortgage Works has provided no deadline, but have said they will need five working days to send the funds by BACS and if the notice is less, they will deduct £20 for the CHAPS payment.

This effectively means anyone relying on mortgage funding has about a week left for their solicitor to complete their work, so the lenders can get the COT next week and release funds in time to beat the deadline.

This, in turn, means there could be many buyers and sellers, relying on the significant stamp duty savings they could make, pulling out late on and leading to a chain collapsing like a pack of cards, according to Chris Hodgkinson, managing director of HBB Solutions and a former agent himself.

He said: “We all know how frustrating it can be when chains collapse. We’ve been fixing them for nearly eleven years now.

HBB Solutions typically buy with a discount or alternatively charge a fee, starting from as little as 8%, for our service.

He added: “I think we all know the pressure lenders, solicitors, search providers and, in particular, agency sales progression teams will be under in June.”