Property Rescue Blog

Gordon Brown may have been on holiday but he and his Chancellor, Alistair Darling, are working hard in an attempt to give the housing market a boost, and in so doing, improve their own party’s ratings.

It appears that Mr Darling may decide to temporarily suspend stamp duty on homes that fall into the lower bracket, i.e. between £125,000 and £250,000.  As the average home sits neatly within this range the measure is likely to have a big impact on first time buyers, as well as some of those wanting to move up to their second home.

If this ‘stamp duty holiday’ is put into practice (and it’s a big ‘if’ as there are lots of questions about how the fall in revenue would impact the Treasury) it would seem to provide an excellent antidote to the UK’s stagnant housing market.  But the property crisis has been fuelled by many factors not least of which is the lack of mortgage lending.  Some commentators feel that talk of a stamp duty holiday is detrimental to the market in the short term because potential buyers are likely to delay whilst they wait to see what happens.  Politically, it could also prove to be a shot in the foot: those who have recently bought and handed over thousands of pounds in stamp duty taxation are likely to feel pretty miffed that they missed out on such benefits.

If stamp duty news provides a glimmer of hope to some, that must be balanced by yet more bad news from Northern Rock.  The lender announced greater losses than anticipated and said it repossessed 65% more homes over the past year as a result of its previous lending to the sub-prime market.  As the government shores up Northern Rock with a controversial £3.4bn, it is now unavoidably clear that the effects of the credit crunch – which is celebrating its first birthday – will be long lasting.  Even the government is admitting that the property market is unlikely to recover in the short term, leaving borrowers concerned about meeting mortgage repayments as fuel and living costs rise, and those who want to sell feeling that their hands are tied.  If you are facing the possibility of repossession or you need to sell up fast because of personal circumstances, contact Property Rescue to find out about their guaranteed sale service. 

Property Rescue will provide a written valuation for your property and, if you accept that valuation, the sale is guaranteed to go through.  Whether or not you will pay stamp duty is dependent on the government’s decision of course, but you will save money by not having to instruct estate agents and, because the transaction is classed as ‘private’, you won’t have to prepare a Home Information Pack.  In addition, Property Rescue pay the legal fees on your sale. 

Give Property Rescue a call to find out more.  Their advice is free and entirely without obligation.