MPs met virtually to discuss the stamp duty holiday extension introduced during the Covid-19 outbreak after a petition on the UK government’s website secured enough signatures for it to be considered for debate in Parliament.
The petition, titled ‘Extend the Stamp Duty Holiday for an additional 6 months after 31st March 2021’, has attracted more than 140,000 signatures.
MPs from across the house took part in the 65-minute online session.
Watch:
Responding to the debate on behalf of the government, Jesse Norman MP, financial secretary to the Treasury, said it was not appropriate in this debate to “comment on tax policy outside a fiscal event”.
We will now have to wait for the chancellor’s Budget on 3 March to know more.
Comments (12)
An extension will just lead to another cliff edge in the future and the same problems many face now.
I think stamp duty should have a phased return, 25% every 3 or 6 months until its eventually back to Pre Pandemic rates.
Complete waste of time having that debate. It was a foregone conclusion that the government would not announce any changes in the debate. It will wait, as it always was going to, until the budget. Meanwhile, those bleating about the ‘cliff edge’ and ‘it’s not fair’ have known all along that end of March is the deadline.
Please Sir, because I dithered about I didn’t manage to get all my ISA allowances in place by the tax deadline last year. Please Sir, can I have an extension? Er, no.
Nobody envisaged last summer that we would be in a third lockdown in 2021 so it’s not really a question of dithering and nothing to do with tax allowances
The whole house buying process has been affected by restricted access to services .
It doesn’t help anyone in a mass panic to beating an artificial deadline affecting all sorts of people
That’s why a tapered withdrawl is more appopriate to cater for a unique set of e circumstances
What is artificial about the deadline ?. It was an absolute from the moment the SDLT holiday was announced.
The only reason I do not see published for the “Botttleneck” is the inability of poor estate agents not correctly managing expectations when accepting offers. Mortgage Lenders, Surveyors, Conveyancers & Solicitors have all been the target for blame since the call for the SDLT extension was created in October with nearly 6 months to go.
Many of the Agents I speak with have no issue with the date. Those sales that were never going to meet the deadline were told so and their offer and financing accepted or adjusted. I would suggest any purchaser who had an offer accepted after the middle of November that involved “A chain”, should have been told there a high probablility that the based upon current time to sale, completion would not meet the deadline.
This is one case where the views of vociferous minority ably aided and abetted by self interested parties such as Rightmove and Zoopla have drowned out the sound of the silent majority.
I would offer the idea that the 6.5% price increase is far more likely to “Dampen demand” and preclude far more first time buyers who now require a greater deposit than the cost of the average stamp duty of £4500
Artificial in the sense of abritrary and set at a time when the country was opening up after a lockdown
it would not have been envisaged that during the 2 dates there would be 2 further lockdowns ,staff shortages and systems crashing like Hackney
You fail to take into account the unprecedented circumstances we are in
In the interests of public health it doensn’t make any sense to have people scrambling around in a panic just to save costs
Disappointed that Hollinrake didn’t have something more positive to say with some firm suggestions He is the voice of the industry in Parliament or at least he was until he is departing the scene with a fat cheque
We live in unperecedented times where lockdowns make it extremely arduous to get deals over the line .The current deadline means there is a state of panic & anxiety
The last thing the country needs is to create a panic to hit a deadline which is likely to increase public health risks
A tapered saving into July rather than a cliffall and some firm changes to keep the stimulus going would be welcomed
I am not far away from exchanging however if there was delays I couldn’t complete until end of march I would have to pull out of the chain. I haven’t got 9.5 to give to hmrc.
In reality, SDLT tax affects around 3% of the UK home owning population each year. A recent Zoopla report claims the average British homeowner moves once very 23 years. So all those who have bought a house on the strength of SDLT, should remember, in that time , the property they bought is likely to have increased in value by 200%. Could be the best £9.5K investment you ever made !
Stamp duty cuts has already affected first time buyers and it will only hinder them further and benefit the investors.
“unmute Dianne” Brilliant.
Best option, allow more timer to those who have agreed sales in process
Agree