Following on from the news reported in the Daily Telegraph over the weekend regarding a potential short-term extension to the stamp duty land tax holiday (SDLT), has sent ripples through the industry.
We took to Twitter to see whether our followers thought the extension was a good or bad idea, and truth be told we couldn’t split them. Half of those who responded thought it was a good idea to extend the deadline by six weeks, whilst the other 50% just wanted the original stuck to.
Jonathan Maskew from Simpson Millar, wrote on LinkedIn:
“Whilst welcome news for many I’m sure…is it not time to scrap it completely?”
Others in the industry also shared their views on the news.
“It makes no sense to just extend the SDLT holiday. Another batch of would-be purchasers will simply miss the next deadline. Surely, the government either has to be creative or leave well alone at this late stage?
“It is like saying – good news Mr Hailstone your lethal execution date has been out off six weeks. Still going to happen, still going to be just as scary and just as final. Just prolongs the agony.”
Simon Brown, founder of the ESTAS, said:
“Would it not be more sensible to just extend it for those already in a transaction? Otherwise it will just extend the stress period for agents and especially conveyancers.”
The prospect of an extension that takes in some – but not all – of those buyers currently in a transaction comes as Rightmove estimates some 100,000 buyers who agreed a purchase before Christmas will fail to complete by March 31.
And the portal estimates that one in five of the buyers who agreed a purchase right back in July – seven months ago, when the stamp duty holiday was announced – will still fail to make the current March 31 cliff edge.
This is double the proportion of the previous year when only one in 10 purchases agreed in July 2019 were still waiting to complete at this time last year.
Rightmove says:
“Despite the very minimal chance of benefitting from the stamp duty savings, the number of purchases agreed is currently up by seven per cent. The pipeline for future sales is looking even stronger, with the number of prospective buyers sending enquiries to estate agents up by 18 per cent, and the number of visits to Rightmove up by 45 per cent. This high buyer demand is outstripping new supply and helping to edge up prices despite the challenging economic backdrop.”
5 responses
personally I think if it were to be extended (especially this 6 week idea) it would be a disaster for the mental health of conveyancing staff throughout the country.
Everyone firm in the country knows that they have a nightmare March coming up but the thought of some relief in April is the dim light at the end of the tunnel. To have that snatched away from them at the end of the hellish year they have been through is the last thing they need.
If measures were to be taken to phase out the end then these should have been 3 months ago. To take the measures talked about (and I realise this is still speculation) at such a late stage would be the worst possible scenario
Thank you.Someone thinking about the conveyancing side for a change.Yes, i am a conveyancer and have been for 46 years.The pressure we are currently under is intolerable.No more -bring it to an end, please.
It is irresponsible for them to take on workloads that they cannot handle.
The truth has to be faced.
UK has a home transfer system that fails to protect movers from buying properties with
* Inadequate fire safety
* Conveyancing stress
* Liability for life changing debt
* Unacceptable loss through abortive sales
* Etc etc
Only radical change will do
Take the pressure off. Don’t extend the deadline by x number of weeks, which would still create pressure for all involved and just create a new surge of applicant hoping to beat the deadline. Simply allow those who are already in a transaction to benefit from the stamp duty holiday, whatever date they end up completing. To cut those sales off especially if they have been agreed months ago and have been tricky for unforeseeable reasons seems unfair.
Those who aren’t in a transaction now we should be saying ‘tough, the cut off time is now, you’re too late’. People are still offering now with the hope of beating the deadline, even when advised that this is impossible – but they know better! Absolute nonsense!