First time buyers rush to avoid stamp duty

13-Jan-2012

First time buyers are expected to increase in the next month as the deadline for the tax stamp holiday nears, according to Wales Online.

House sales in the south of Wales have increased due to a last minute rush to avoid the one per cent duty on properties between £125,000 and £250,000, it has been reported by Saville's Lisa Howels.

The tax holiday was introduced by Alistair Darling before the last General Election, but current chancellor George Osborne has said he won’t be renewing the holiday beyond March, instead focussing on reviving the right-to-buy scheme.

The scheme, that underwrites mortgage schemes for 100,000 families and offers house-builders a £400 million fund to build more homes, has been described as a "win-win" system by Frank Field of the Guardian, ensuring that tenants become homeowners and the building industry gains a long-term building programme.

Tony Filice, the director of Kelvin Francis estate agents and spokesman for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Wales’ residential wing, commented in Wales Today that: "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."

A government first time buyers scheme can offer shared equity or shared ownership options.

Published by Sam Franklin

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