Will your buyers meet the new stamp duty deadline?

Property purchasers wanting to take advantage of the reduced stamp duty, which is due to end in its existing form at the end of June, before tapered in England until 30 September, will need to move fast and find an agent prepared for a rapid sale. But much will depend on where the property is located.

In Wales there is no tax break after 30 June and in Scotland the tax break ended on 31 March.

According to Rightmove, it currently takes an average of 126 days from acceptance to completion, which means that property purchasers will need to have had an offer accepted by mid-February 24 to meet the 30 June deadline.

Separate analysis by TwentyCi suggests that the average stands at about 147 days, meaning your buyer would need to have had an offer accepted at the beginning of February.

Trussle, the online mortgage broker, is even more pessimistic with 163 days, which if accurate means that the average deal would have had to be accepted in January.

The Times newspaper, which highlighted the data over the weekend, points out that the rush to beat the stamp duty deadline is placing upward pressure on house prices.

The average residential property price hit a record high of £254,606 according to the Halifax House Price Index.

Carol Lewis of The Times wrote: “The heat is likely to come off when lockdown eases, and more people have had their second dose of vaccine and feel more confident about selling.

“This is little consolation for those buying now, though, when what really matters is how log-jammed services are in their area.

“The time it takes for searches, conveyancing, valuations and lending applications to be processed is key [to beating the stamp duty deadline].”

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One Comment

  1. tim main

    This article is titled, “Will your buyers meet the new Stamp Duty deadline?”  Surely the question estate agents should be asking themselves is have we advised/helped our clients do everything they can to prepare for a sale?

    Have they completed a Property Information Form, Fixtures and Fittings form, should the sellers obtain searches if the local authority is slow, is the buyer aware of the title documents, has the buyer seen the Property Information Form and Fixtures and fittings forms.  Once all this is prepared and shared with the buyer the estate agents focus will be on, is the buyer prepared?

     

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