Cost of living correspondent
BBCHome buyers are scrambling to complete purchases by the end of the month or face paying thousands of pounds extra in stamp duty.
First-time buyers in particular, already up against affordability challenges, could be hit when stamp duty thresholds in England and Northern Ireland change on 1 April.
One couple said they felt like they were “in a race, and our prize is £11,000”.
Lenders say a significant swathe of the country will be drawn into paying the tax, but the government says it is helping more people to buy their first home.
At the moment, buyers of homes worth less than £250,000 do not pay stamp duty. This was doubled from £125,000 under Liz Truss’s mini-Budget in September 2022.
The threshold is £425,000 for those buying their first property. This was raised from £300,000 as part of the mini-Budget.
These higher thresholds will end at the start of April, when they will revert to previous levels.
More jeopardy for a Traitor
Paul Gorton featured in the 2024 series of cult reality TV series The Traitors.
The 37-year-old and his partner Kate Waldron now face another episode of high jeopardy to complete the purchase of their first home in time.
“We’re on a knife edge, we’ve got weeks, otherwise it’s going to cost us a large chunk for no reason,” Mr Gorton said.
They are trying to buy a property in Congleton, Cheshire. Ms Waldron, 34, said it was a particularly stressful time because she only gave birth to baby Cooper three months ago. They already have two-year-old Charlie and a dog called Buddy.
“We’re doing it all at once. It’s an added stress with this deadline looming over us,” she said.
Missing that deadline would cost them £6,500, despite having put all their money into the deposit, and facing the prospect of regular bills and nursery fees.
Deadline fears
Karen Potter, an estate agent in Southport, has about 37 clients in the danger zone of missing the deadline.
“In a stressful arena anyway, we’ve got this panic where there’s another source of strain and stress for them,” she said.
Property portal Rightmove has estimated that in England, some 25,000 first-time buyers and 74,000 home movers, in the buying process, would be unable to complete in time to beat the deadline.
Mortgage brokers have reported buyers pulling out of deals because they could not move before the end of March.
The proportion of areas in England in which the average first-time buyer home falls into the scope of stamp duty will rise from 8.4% to 32% on 1 April, according to analysis by the Skipton Group, which includes a building society and estate agency.
Stamp duty has always been a more common issue for buyers in the south east of England, where house prices are higher. Some will face higher stamp duty bills owing to the changing thresholds.
Jonah Kavanagh and Elle Van Petersen are hoping to buy their first home together in Guildford. They, and their sellers, are pulling out all the stops to get the move completed in time.
Failure to do so would cost them £11,000 extra in stamp duty.
“It feels like we are in a race, and our prize is £11,000,” said Mr Kavanagh, 29, who was one of those who got in touch on the issue via Your Voice, Your BBC News as he was worried about others in a similar situation.
Ms Van Petersen said there was plenty of “uncertainty, anxiety, and nervousness” now on top of the shock that came when no extension to stamp duty relief was announced in the Budget.
The government has previously said that Budget was a necessary package to fill what it called a black hole in the public finances, and other changes were freeing up properties for first-time buyers.
“We’re committed to making home ownership possible for hardworking Brits, that’s why we’re fixing the planning system and building 1.5 million more homes,” said a Treasury spokesman.
For Mr Kavanagh and Ms Van Petersen the impact, were they to miss the deadline, would be less money and sensible savings to cover living costs, furniture, and unexpected costs.
Ways to make your mortgage more affordable
- Make overpayments. If you still have some time on a low fixed-rate deal, you might be able to pay more now to save later.
- Move to an interest-only mortgage. It can keep your monthly payments affordable although you won’t be paying off the debt accrued when purchasing your house.
- Extend the life of your mortgage. The typical mortgage term is 25 years, but 30 and even 40-year terms are now available.
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