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Two months to go: First Time Buyers stamp duty holiday expires on 24th March
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Estate agents today issued a reminder to all first time buyers
that the Government's holiday on Stamp Duty Land Tax will come to
an end in two months' time, on Saturday 24th March
2012.
Wendy Evans Scott, President of the NAEA said: "With only two
months remaining, first time buyers must act quickly to avoid
paying Stamp Duty Land Tax on their first home purchase. If you're
currently in a chain and waiting to complete your purchase then
make sure that others in the chain know about the end of the tax
holiday too. Good communication with your solicitor can help move
the process forward, helping you beat the 24th March
cut-off."
After the tax exemption has come to an end FTBs will face a tax
of one per cent on house purchases between £125,000 and £250,000,
and a three per cent tax on purchases over £250,000.
The NAEA's recent figures show that the number of sales to FTBs
edged up during November and December from 19 per cent to 21 per
cent of sales per branch. However FTBs still represent a low
percentage of overall property sales, and NAEA data shows the
number of first time buyers getting on to the housing ladder hit a
three-year low in October, at just 16 per cent of sales.
Mrs Evans Scott continued: "First time buyers are key to a
healthy property market. We hope to see the number of people
completing the purchase of their first home continuing to increase
through February and March, as many FTBs are keen to purchase their
first home before the tax exemption deadline.
"However, it is impossible to predict what impact the end of the
tax exemption will have on first time buyers, particularly those on
very tight budgets of under £250,000 for whom the one per cent tax
could be disastrous. The Government will need to monitor sales
closely and consider other action to support the fragile first time
buyer market."