Will the Stamp Duty holiday inspire you to buy a house?
Investors buying homes worth up to £500,000 won’t have to pay Stamp Duty on these purchases until the end of March 2021, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced this week in a mini Budget statement.
As ever, Property Investor Today has an excellent summary of the announcements, here, and how they will affect the housing sector.
An extra 3% Stamp Duty on second and buy-to-let homes still applies, so the news isn’t all that inspiring for property investors. Also the 2% surcharge on overseas investors, earmarked for introduction in April 2021 wasn’t included either.
Zah Azeem, Partner Scrivener Tibbatts adds: “The Chancellor hopes this measure will get property sales moving again on homes selling for £500,000 or less. It will last until the end of March next year, with the threshold for ‘No Stamp Duty’ rising with immediate effect from £125,000 to £500,000, however here in Wimbledon this will only cover the cost of the smallest apartments.
According to Sunak, scrapping Stamp Duty on properties worth less than £500,000 means that nine out of 10 homes in England between now and the end of March will be exempt from Stamp Duty.
The Chancellor also unveiled a £2 billion Green Homes Grant scheme which will enable homeowners and landlords in England to apply for vouchers from September, to help pay for green improvements such as loft, wall and floor insulation.
Sunak said the government will fund two thirds of the cost of green improvements up to £5,000 per household and the full cost up to £10,000 for low-income households.
The Chancellor insisted that the vouchers could help save some households £300 a year on their energy bills while also creating many new jobs.
The Green Homes Grant initiative forms part of a wider £3 billion green investment package that the government hopes will support approximately 140,000 green jobs as well as reducing emissions and upgrading buildings that don’t currently perform so well on energy efficiency.
If you would like to discuss this or something related to a valuation please contact zah@scrivenertibbatts.co.uk or call 020 8947 7040.
