Need a holiday? How about extending one?

The six month SDLT “holiday” is due to come to an end on 31 March 2021. The “holiday” removed SDLT on some residential purchases for up to £500,000, and reduced the SDLT cost for other residential purchases. There have been a number of calls over the last few months to extend the holiday, but the government response on 10 December stated that there was no intention to extend the relief. However, Parliament will debate a possible extension today, Monday 1 February. The debate has been triggered by an online petition which has received over 100,000 signatures - Extend the Stamp Duty Holiday for an additional 6 months after 31st March 2021 - Petitions (parliament.uk)

Any extension to the SDLT holiday would be very welcome as it would provide further stimulus to the property industry. Many buyers face the prospect of not being able to complete their purchase in time for the deadline, and under the current rules would incur higher SDLT costs. Even if the holiday is not extended, some form of relief for these buyers would be helpful. In the meantime, there is a growing backlog of transactions with buyers anxious to complete ahead of 1 April.

You can watch the debate live on YouTube at 4pm today, Monday 1 February.