·     Stamp Duty Holiday Extension

As was suggested last week, today the Chancellor announced a three-month extension to the stamp duty holiday. This means that those buying a residential home that completes before the 1^st July 2021 will not have to pay stamp duty on properties valued up to £500,000. After this date, this threshold will then lower to £250,000 until the end of September, after which the stamp duty holiday will end.

For people with sales currently in our pipeline, it means they will not miss out on the savings the holiday is providing. This creates a potential saving of thousands of pounds and means people’s moving plans will not be disturbed.

·     Furlough Extended

It was revealed today that there would be a five-month extension to the furlough scheme, with the scheme now ending on the 30^th September 2021. This is fantastic news for landlords who could be worried that tenants may not be able to pay their rent.

·     95% Mortgages for First Time Buyers

In addition to the stamp duty extension, today a new mortgage guarantee scheme was announced. Under this scheme, the Government will offer an incentive of providing a guarantee on 95% loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages to lenders.

Traditionally, 95% LTV mortgage deals are aimed at first-time buyers as they only require a 5% deposit, and the Chancellor stated that many high street banks will offer mortgages through this scheme from next month including Lloyds, NatWest and Santander.

The Chancellor said: “This will give people the chance to go from Generation Rent to Generation Buy.”