Buy a house now says Leeds estate agent after Stamp Duty relief extended in Budget 2021 announced by Rishi Sunak

An additional 300,000 transactions in England could benefit by the end of June from the stamp duty extension announced in the Budget, according to estimates.

Within minutes of the extension being announced, there were signs of house hunters rushing to see the properties available online.

-> New investment bank announced for Leeds in Budget 2021Property professionals said the announcement will be a “huge relief” to those who had been stuck in transaction bottlenecks, saving them thousands of pounds.

Introduced last July, the stamp duty holiday had been due to end on March 31, but it will remain until the end of June and then there will be a “tapered” period running until September.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the Government will maintain the temporary increase in the “nil rate” stamp duty band at £500,000 in England and Northern Ireland until June 30.

From July 1, the nil rate band will reduce to £250,000, until September 30.

It will then return to its “normal” threshold of £125,000 from October 1.

Rightmove said an additional 300,000 property transactions in England could get through by the end of June and buyers could save £1.75 billion in total.

Mark Whincup, Purplebricks spokesperson for Leeds said: “Many people who initially purchased a property hoping to make the March deadline will now be feeling a great sense of relief about the extra time they have to complete on their purchase, without having the worry of paying for Stamp Duty.

“With many people reassessing their needs and their priorities during the Covid pandemic, today’s news of the Stamp Duty extension is likely to spur more people onto the market. Whether buyers want a bigger garden, a home office or space for a home gym, now is the time for them to find their dream home.”

“Today’s announcement is a real boost for first time buyers, many of whom need a helping hand onto the property market. In Leeds, there are several first time buyer hotspots, including Chapel Allerton and Meanwood, which are trendy spots with bars, cafes and good schools. Kirkstall and Bramley are also popular, with plenty of affordable homes and great transport links into the city centre. And Falsely has a lovely village feel to it, with plenty of good schools for families.”

How will the Stamp Duty Holiday Extension affect the property market?

Rebecca Cronshaw, solicitor at Leeds residential property firm, Holden Smith Law, said: “The SDLT extension will provide a huge boost to the property industry and home buyers collectively. It is estimated there were around 100,000 transactions hanging on the deadline, so the extension will help prevent these falling through.

“Recent research found 37% of potential house buyers will not be buying a house in the near future had the stamp duty holiday ended as originally planned in March, so the extension will definitely provide another boost to help get these people on, or moving up, the property ladder.

“It’s likely that if the SDLT holiday hadn’t been extended, many transactions would have dropped off which could slow the market significantly.

“Home ownership is crucial to our economy and is what many people currently struggling to get on the ladder really want to achieve, and the extension to the SDLT holiday will help them to do this.

“The March deadline caused a significant backlog of transactions which meant lots of buyers potentially missing out through no fault of their own, but the extension will mean this backlog can start to ease and will buy people more time to complete.

“A sudden end to the stamp duty holiday, if and when it does happen, could cause real disruption to the property market. An eventual gradual phasing out of the scheme would make sure buyers waiting to complete aren’t hit financially. A cliff-edge situation at any time is an unnecessary threat.

“Residential Stamp Duty Land Tax is worth an estimated £8.4 billion to the government per year, so I think it’s highly unlikely it will be scrapped for good. There is an argument to say that if it were to be scrapped, the government would earn an extra revenue from the other costs involved in people moving home, for example, the VAT from buyers purchasing household appliances or furniture, or on removal fees and land registry fees. However, these amounts are unlikely to come close to the total amount of revenue the government currently receives from Stamp Tax receipts.”