January 23, 2012
Activity among first time buyers is expected to rocket over the next month, as prospective homeowners rush to beat the deadline for the returning stamp duty tax.
According to Wales Online, house sales in the south of Wales have boomed recently in order to avoid the one per cent duty on properties between £125,000 and £250,000, which will come back into force later this year.
"In the next couple of months there will be a surge – because it is a saving after all – but after March 24 I think there will be a lull, because first-time buyers will have £1,000-£2,000 extra to pay," Tony Filice, spokesman for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Wales’, told Wales Today.
The tax holiday was introduced for first time buyers by former Chancellor Alistair Darling before the 2010 General Election in order to prop up the flagging housing market. However, current Chancellor George Osborne won’t be renewing the holiday beyond March.
The government will instead focussing on reviving the right-to-buy scheme, which underwrites mortgage schemes for 100,000 families and offers house-builders a £400 million fund to build more homes. This is turn ensures that tenants become homeowners and the building industry gains a long-term building programme.
For information about how the government’s changes will affect your hopes of owning a property, contact us today.
