‘Stamp duty holiday extension gives investors a second chance’

The government’s three-month stamp duty holiday extension gives investors another opportunity to profit from the relief, said Imogen Lea, tax consultant at Wilsons.

In yesterday’s Budget Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that stamp duty relief will be extended by three months to June 30th, while the holiday will remain on the first £250,000 of property purchase between July and September 30th.

Lea said: “The welcome three-month extension to the SDLT holiday gives potential property investors a second chance to purchase with no SDLT up to £500,000.”

“The extension to properties valued at £250,000 or less, which will be introduced in July and run to September 30, could see more sustained growth in buy-to-let investments in parts of the country where property prices are lower, or in smaller dwellings.

“The million-dollar question, is whether this will be enough to keep the market buoyant in the medium and long-term.”

“Landlords are also hoping that the end of the lockdown will see young professionals, many of whom have spent much of the crisis staying at their parents’ homes, return to renting in city centres.”

Buy-to-let investors have purchased 102,267 properties since the SDLT holiday came into effect in July 2020.