So only six (working) days to go… and I note there is now talk of a potential SDLT extension. I think we all await the Spring Statement with bated breath.
This gives me so many conflicting emotions but my over riding one is “NO”. Don’t push the can down the road when we are all struggling. If the government are going to do anything in the forthcoming Spring Statement, my view is it should be some form of permanent change. We all understand next week’s cliff edge and we (brokers, lenders, estate agents, conveyancers and removals) are all working to it. Any shift in the deadline to say three months’ time just allows movers to think that they can rush their transaction through in that three month window… and we will be even more stressed then than now!
It is easy for the Government to tinker with stamp duty. I will be the first to say I believe the tax needs an overhaul. So many different types of relief, so many regulations. And then we have the refund handling chaser companies who will tell clients they can claim a refund because they should not have paid as much stamp duty as they did, implying we do not know what we are doing. The number of times I have had clients call me after completion and tell me they have been contacted by a company promising a stamp duty refund because they can see from Rightmove the house is two dwellings (I know MDR has been abolished now but you know what I mean!). I had one client who was told she could reclaim her stamp duty as they had noted there was a sink in the garage!
Stamp duty is such a complicated area in itself. Put that with all the other regulations we are governed by and work with and you can see why conveyancing is such a specialised area; and is definitely not an area of work where you could just have a go. Insurance premiums are high.
So in this last week before the end of the SDLT break (I hope), take pride in what you do. It is a hard job and now is the time we need to clients to see what we do and the pressures from external forces we have to work under; and which we often have little or no control over. It’s been great to see so much positivity around National Conveyancing Week and the effort firms have gone to, to raise the profile of the profession. Let’s maintain that momentum and use routes like social media next week to congratulate each other for a job well done.
And with 1st April being a new tax year for many I return to my soapbox of encouraging firms to put up their fees! Look at the service we provide not just to our clients, but the wider economy. The Government will make a lot of money in SDLT receipts in the next week. We need to show to the public what we do and how well we do it, even under the most intense pressure.
This is written by a real high street conveyancer who wishes to remain anonymous. Read more in Today’s Conveyancer every week.
