The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has made his Summer Statement and as I write this the Shadow Chancellor, Anneliese Dodds, is replying in the usual opposition way.
I'm not here to debate politics and to argue which side is right, that's very much dependent on personal view and how you look at statistics. I am here, however, to let you know that Rishi Sunak has announced a cut in Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT).
The actual method of providing a cut is to raise the 0% threshold from £125k to £500k. This applies to completions (we think completion and not exchange) from today and will run until 31 March 2021. The 3% surcharge will still apply for second properties.
That's less than 9 months to sell your house, find a house and agree a price, and then buy that house. All doable but if you miss out by a day you will end up paying a load of SDLT that you possibly hadn't budgeted for.
All things considered, the reduction is a good move to stimulate the housing market but only time will tell if it is enough and sustainable after March. The Autumn Budget looks set to be very interesting, relatively speaking of course.
If you would like to talk about how the SDLT changes affect you or to discuss any other SDLT queries please do not hesitate to contact Gepp Solicitors on 01245 228125 or PrivateClientEnq@gepp.co.uk.
This is not legal advice; it is intended to provide information of general interest about current legal issues.
