Having already touched on the government incentive of the stamp duty holiday I thought it would be a good idea to look into this in more depth this month. The property market is still incredibly active thanks to a combination of factors. The initial impact of the ‘lockdown backlog’ has definitely been increased by the introduction of the stamp duty holiday.
Let us start with the basics. Stamp Duty Land Tax is the tax paid to the government on any property purchase. This amount changes with respect to the level of sale agreed. Purchases of residential property up to and including £125,000 are stamp duty exempt. Any purchase between £125,000 and £250,000 is charged at a rate of 2% of the amount over £125,000, and a purchase between £250,000 and £500,000 is charged at a rate of the same 2% of the figure between £125,000 and £250,000 plus 5% of any figure over £250,000.
Sounds confusing? Well the average house price in the UK is approximately £240,000. Stamp duty on such a purchase would be £2,300 - 2% of the amount over £125,000.
Still a little confused? Don’t worry about it. The whole point of the holiday is that any sale agreed and completed on a primary home before March 31st 2021 up to the level of £500,000 has no stamp duty to pay.
The advice would be that if you are thinking of selling your property then now is the time. Average sale agreed to completion timescales are around 12 weeks, meaning that any property sale agreed before Christmas should have a very good chance of being completed and stamp duty free before the deadline.
With the number of sales happening and the recent memory of lockdown boredom, purchasers are out in force looking for their next home. Why not take advantage of high demand and that all too rare thing, tax exemption, and arrange a free and no-obligation valuation of your property to see what Poole Townsend can do for you.