Stamp duty holiday deadline: delays are putting thousands of sales at risk

Does the stamp duty holiday apply from exchange date or from completion date?

Stamp duty is paid on completion. So if you’re hoping to benefit from the stamp duty holiday, you need to have completed your purchase on or before the 30th June, which is when the extended holiday finishes.

‘Completion’ is when ownership passes from the buyer to the seller. Your solicitor will conduct a transfer of your money to the seller’s solicitor on an arranged date. Once the amount is received, you’ll get your new set of house keys and your move will officially be completed.
‘Exchange date’ refers to the part of the home buying process where the seller and buyer legally commit to the transaction by exchanging contracts, allowing the sale to become legally binding. Failure to complete the transaction can result in legal and financial penalties.

Why the delay?

It usually takes around 12 weeks from accepting the offer to legal completion of the transaction. But thanks to the stamp duty holiday extension, agencies, solicitors, surveyors, lenders, and removal companies have been inundated with requests from clients who are incredibly worried about missing out on the savings. Transactions are now taking around 20 weeks. There’s also the issue of being in a property chain. While you may have budgeted for the risk of the stamp duty holiday falling through, someone else in your chain might not have and will therefore pull out, causing the entire chain to come crashing down.

What does this mean for the property market?

UK house prices surged amid the stamp duty holiday rush, with the average now coming in at a staggering £265,000. Introduced in July 2020, the stamp duty holiday ensures tax owed on the first £500,000 of property is scrapped until June 30th 2021. Unsurprisingly, thousands of prospective buyers rushed to complete the mortgage application process before the deadline, with many not budgeting for furnishing costs. However, there is some hope that house prices could start to lower as the stamp duty holiday comes to an end. If you’ve missed out on the stamp duty holiday and would like to explore your options, get in touch with TaylorMade Finance today. One of our friendly mortgage advisers can point you in the right direction and make buying a home an easy process.

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