Stamp duty: is the holiday (almost) over?

With the stamp duty holiday deadline looming, buyers are rushing to complete their transactions before 31 March, and the pressure has led to a backlog, with research suggesting large numbers of buyers will withdraw from their purchases if they miss the deadline. The government’s initial response to calls for an extension was to state that the measure was designed as temporary relief to stimulate market activity, and support jobs that rely on the property market. After an online petition calling for the tax break to be lengthened received more than 140,000 signatures, a virtual House of Commons debate took place earlier this month; despite an extension of the stamp duty holiday being met with cross-party support, the government declined to commit to this, with no further decisions expected until the budget announcement on 3 March. There are also calls to abolish the tax altogether.

Breaking the chain

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