Tag: Stamp Duty

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Northampton property updates proposals to cut stamp duty

Stamp Duty Tax Trellows Estate Agents Northampton

Northampton property updates proposals to cut stamp duty

 

There is growing speculation that the government is planning to encourage pensioners to downsize by offering a stamp duty tax break. The move would be a welcome one, according to the National Association of Property Buyers (NAPB) as it would potentially increase the supply of larger properties coming onto them market. It is estimated that almost four in ten properties are officially ‘under-occupied’, meaning they have too many bedrooms for those living there, and could be more effectively used by families with children.

Jonathan Rolande, from the National Association of Property Buyers (NAPB), said: “We’d welcome a stamp duty cut for pensioners selling their own home to downsize. It would allow them to move without the penalty of high SDLT and would certainly encourage more to do so.

“Currently a pensioner selling a family home at £700,000 to buy at £500,000 would face a £15,000 stamp duty bill and with other costs such as estate agent and solicitors a move downward is going to cost them nearly £30,000 – a figure many simply cannot bring themselves to pay when leaving a much loved family home.

“Government receipts from stamp duty have more than doubled in the last ten years so there is certainly capacity to offer targeted reductions to help free up stock.”

Buy-to-let landlords could also be given incentives, such as lower capital gains tax, to sell their second homes to first-time buyers. But Rolande fears that this measure could backfire. He added: “We strongly disagree with any plan to reduce taxes for landlords who sell to first time buyers,” he added.

“The last thing we need right now is fewer properties to let, penalising those not in a position to buy their home. If tax breaks for wealthy landlords are on the table, why not use them to incentivise those who let their property on longer term agreements, giving more security to hard pressed tenants?

“We’re very glad that the government is looking at measures to repair parts of the broken property market but I am fearful that ill-considered action to solve one problem here will create another issue elsewhere.”

COMMENT

The government needs to seriously consider its position on Stamp Duty. As house prices have risen, more and more properties have approached the higher Stamp Duty rates, creating a glass ceiling, that is discouraging people from moving upwards. People in the UK are used to moving home, to move upwards, outwards or near to another job, but the punitive rates are punishing those who by moving are contributing the economy in a very significant manner.

The volume of property for sale is at an all time low, onw of the factors contributing to this is that as the chain of sales has worked its way upwards, there comes a point where it is just too uneconomical for people to move upwards, which would make their home available for those lower down the ladder to also move. The exchequer is collecting less tax from the top 5% of properties today, than before they increased the rates, making their logic unclear.

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Chancellor introduced stamp duty holiday

 

As you may well be aware, the Chancellor has just raised the threshold for Stamp duty to £500,000 until the 31st March 2021. Whilst this is better than nothing, there is an urgent need for far more drastic measures.

Over the last 2/3 decades, we have seen the property ladder literally pulled up from the reach of the younger generation and that reaches far beyond stamp duty. In the first instance, there is a desperate need for a government backed scheme for ALL 1st time buyers who are in need, to ensure that they have a 95% mortgage available to them, if not more.

We all peddle the notion about property creating wealth, but I would urge you to consider that this generation’s equity, is the next generation’s debt and there comes a time for humility and less economic arrogance, because over the next decade or so, there will be a sharp decline in buyers in the 30s & 40s coming through and that will be catastrophic economically, politically and socially.

There is also the matter of the disgraceful disparity between the base rate and the standard variable rate. Anyone who has had any financial upset during the recent crisis, who’s mortgage deal is coming to an end will struggle to get another, because the best deals Cherry Pick borrowers, this is about people’s homes, not luxury goods.

The difference between the Base rate and the standard variable rate used to be as little as 0.5% no it is around 5% This means that those in the most fortunate position can get deals at less than 2% yet those who may not have a steady income or have even had a late payment cannot.

The market may be crawling along, but unless something major is done, the stagnation will continue and when the stamp duty holiday ends it will cause a rush of completions followed by a slump, just as the end of double tax relief did in 1988. It should have been tapered out over months, not cut off overnight.

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Stamp Duty dithering could kill the market, warn angry agents

Stamp Duty dithering could kill the market, warn angry agents

Agents have spoken out angrily against any uncertainty in the market caused by government leaks about future stamp duty changes.

In recent days many national newspapers have reported that Chancellor Rishi Sunak will tomorrow reveal the principles of a stamp duty change – either a six month holiday, or selected short-term changes at the mid and lower end of the market.

But most of the government leaks say this change will merely be discussed in Sunak’s announcement tomorrow, but not actually introduced until the Budget in the autumn.

This has led to widespread concern that the uncertainty will damage the market’s recovery over the summer as buyers wait to see if they have to pay less duty – or none at all – later.

“Please either announce that you are changing it one way or another. Please don’t say you are thinking about it or it may be introduced in a few months. Otherwise, you will stop the market in its tracks as buyers and sellers wait to see what will happen before making decisions and you will kill off any or much of the growing increase in activity we have seen since lockdown restrictions were eased” explains Jeremy Leaf, former chair of the residential faculty off the RICS and the owner of his own London estate agency.

Stacks Property Search, a buying agency, tweeted yesterday: “More uncertainty and a brake on the market as buyers wait for the autumn?”

And a statement from Tom Bill – head of UK residential research at Knight Frank – said: “The government understands that moving house has far-reaching benefits for the UK economy and this may form part of a wider re-think of property taxation that recognises this strategically important role. However, it would need to be introduced immediately to prevent buyers from putting plans on hold and losing the momentum that has built since the market re-opened.”

Other industry figures are concerned that the suggested changes – which, if they come to pass, would apply almost wholly at the middle and lower end of the market – do not go far enough.

Tomer Aboody, director of property lender MT Finance, says: “The [stamp duty] threshold for higher-end properties – £1m plus – is still at extraordinarily high levels, which prevent many from selling or buying. While giving a stamp duty holiday at entry level, why not also reduce the higher-end stamp duty to previous levels where it was a set amount? This would allow, even for a short period, for the market to evolve, and for buyers to move up and down the ladder more easily.”

Aboody also calls for downsizers to have a stamp duty perk to encourage greater mobility in the market.

Last summer Johnson himself said during his Tory leadership campaign that he would consider raising the stamp duty threshold from £125,000 to £500,000 and cutting the top SDLT rate from 12 to seven per cent.

At around the same time the new Chancellor, Sajid Javid, made clear in media interviews that he too wanted a reform of the tax – although his initial suggestion that the burden could be shifted from buyer to seller was later denied.

By the time of December’s General Election the only firm commitment regarding stamp duty in the Conservative manifesto was to create a three per cent stamp duty surcharge on non-UK resident buyers.

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Almost 90% of sales could have zero stamp duty says Zoopla

Almost 90% of sales could have zero stamp duty says Zoopla

One of the possible stamp duty options floated by Chancellor Rishi Sunak could mean 89 per cent of sales would be duty-free.

“Temporarily removing stamp duty for homes up to £500,000 for six months will cost the Treasury £1.3 billion” says the portal’s director of research and insight, Richard Donnell.

A six month stamp duty holiday and various changes to thresholds have been floated by the Treasury in recent days; several spoke of a half year period with no duty applied to homes prices £500,00 or below.

“The greatest benefit will be found in markets across southern England where there are more homes with average prices closer to £500,000” he explains.

The greatest beneficiaries of all would be what Zoopla regards as the affordable areas in and around London where up to 95 per cent of sales would be stamp duty free.

Donnell says Stamp duty holidays are a tried and trusted way to support housing market activity and provide an additional incentive to move home at times when the economy has been hit.

“The government would hope that the savings feeds into additional spending in the real economy with more cash spent on home improvements and white goods rather than enabling buyers to spend that bit more on their next home.”

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Downsizers should get stamp duty cuts just like first timers – call

Downsizers should get stamp duty cuts just like first timers - call

Family houses are under-occupied and only incentives to downsize can help improve the housing market – with a stamp duty cut being one of the most obvious.

That’s the thrust of a new report from the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, which says that if nothing is done there will be some 20m ‘surplus’ bedrooms by 2040, in homes occupied by the over-65s.

The growth in older households – over half of them one-person – is set to account for 36 per cent of the projected 3.7m increase in the number of UK households by 2040, it says.

The report says the current stamp duty regime “tends to jam up the housing market and can add significant costs to downsizing.”

It therefore calls on the government to ensure that so-called ‘last-time’ buyers are put on an equal footing with first time buyers with property purchases of up to £300,000 nil-banded for stamp duty.

The report also blames the housebuilding industry in part, saying there is a shortage of appropriate housing at affordable prices for downsizers; out also wants more independent financial guidance for older owners wishing to downsize.

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Stamp Duty tax break MUST happen, surveyors tell government

Stamp Duty tax break MUST happen, surveyors tell government

A large majority of property professionals polled by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors say a stamp duty holiday would be an effective way of kick-starting the housing market.

RICS has welcomed the re-opening of agents’, conveyancers, surveyors and removal company offices but it warning that the government must do more to bolster demand and house building.

Some 62 per cent of those responding suggest a stamp duty holiday would help the market recover post-pandemic, by lifting sales and leaving prices relatively unchanged.

On average, respondents anticipate sales would rebound to their previous levels in around nine months.

In its monthly snapshot of housing market activity for April, RICS says that – unsurprisingly – a net balance of 93 per cent of respondents reported a decline in new buyer enquiries over the course of the month, dipping further from a net balance of 76 per cent in March.

New instructions also continued to fall, with 96 per cent of contributors reporting a drop rather than rise in new properties being listed for sale. This is the weakest net balance reading since the inception of the RICS measurement in 1999.

As far as prices are concerned, following a run of three successive months of positive readings, the RICS headline house price balance fell into negative territory with a net balance of 21 per cent noting a decline in prices.

Some 35 per cent of the survey participants believe that when the market reopens, prices could be left up to four per cent while around four in 10 take the view that prices could in fact fall by more.

They suggest that a recovery in prices could take a little while longer than sales levels, with respondents suggesting, on average, prices will recover in 11 months.

“Not surprisingly, the latest survey shows that housing activity indicators collapsed in April reflecting the impact of the lockdown. Looking further out, there is a little more optimism but the numbers still suggest that it will be a struggle to get confidence back to where it was as recently as February. Moreover, whether this can be realised will largely depend on how the pandemic pans out and what this means for the macroeconomic environment” explains Simon Rubinsohn, RICS’ chief economist.

“There are, of course, other options available to government as they reopen the market, notwithstanding stamp duty options such as reducing or removing stamp duty for downsizers that would kickstart market fluidity, and we look forward to continuing conversations as the market starts to move again.”

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Stamp Duty Holiday momentum builds as law firm joins the call

Stamp Duty Holiday momentum builds as law firm joins the call

A property law firm is the latest to back a call for a stamp duty holiday to help kick-start the housing market after the lockdown.

Collyer Bristow has joined the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Knight Frank, Home Builders Federation and others in saying that swift action is needed to prevent further damage to the market.

Janet Armstrong-Fox, partner and head of private client property at Collyer Bristow, says: “The residential market is all but at a standstill and will remain so until the current restrictions are lifted. Even then, a slow return to a buoyant market is predicted. Clearly something is needed to kick-start the housing market.”

She continues: “We recognise that this will be a sizeable challenge for government: stamp duty has been a cash cow for HMRC coffers and will come at a time when it will be looking to increase tax revenues following the extensive support offered throughout the Covid-19 crisis.

“Whilst a stamp duty holiday is unlikely, a reduced rate for a set period of time for homes under a £500,000 threshold, and perhaps even higher in London, would provide the stimulus needed to reignite the market.”

But Armstrong-Fox says the action is needed urgently.

“We would urge government to act swiftly in introducing any relaxation of the stamp duty regime as the rumours of such a move may further dampen the housing market with buyers and sellers waiting for fear of missing out on some impending relaxation” she urges.

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Stamp duty could be lowered by Chancellor

A London estate agency says one of its buyers wants to delay completion until November 1 “just in case stamp duty is changed in October”. Aylesford International director Brendan Roberts says one of his firm’s buyers made the request following speculation that stamp duty could be lowered by Chancellor Sajid Javid.

“Anyone looking to sell is unlikely to conclude a sale much before late October even if they found a buyer early September, so agreeing a delayed completion to allow for any changes in SDLT shouldn’t create too much inconvenience and with buyers thin on the ground it is useful to be flexible and adapt to help buyers commit” explains Roberts.

The move follows widespread speculation by government ministers that stamp duty will be reformed – but without saying when or how. Other agents report alternative tactics pursued by purchasers keen to avoid paying more SDLT than they need – but these raise questions over whether conveyancers would help.

“We have had a pronounced increase in enquiries from clients seeking to utilise the existing ‘mixed use’ stamp duty concession. This concession is still not well understood but can yield dramatic savings on higher value properties” explains Gideon Sumption of Stacks Property Search.

“There is a huge and obvious incentive to look at mixed use property where the maximum rate of SDLT is five per cent. There is no current legal definition but such is the amount of money involved there will almost certainly be some case law soon” Sumption continues.

“The current understanding is that for mixed use SDLT to apply, the property needs to have a commercial element, namely enjoy commercial income from land or buildings that from part of the whole. This could be a self-contained annexe let on an assured shorthold tenancy, some pasture let to a farmer or some buildings let as workshops. What won’t qualify are extensive grounds used purely for the enjoyment of the house.”

Another Stacks agent, Bill Spreckley, says buyers are becoming “more and more aware “ not only about the mixed use option but also how so-called ‘multiple dwellings’ can attract lower SDLT.

“If you buy a property with ‘Multiple Dwellings’ – that is an annexe, cottage or flat – then there are discounts available. One takes the price of the whole property, divide it by the number of properties, work out the SDLT per property and then multiply that figure by the number of properties again” he says. He says a principal property sold with two cottages counting as ‘multiple dwellings’ – each sold at a notional £666,666 – would attract stamp duty of £69,999 but sold as one unit at £2m it would incur SDLT of £153,750.

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Are you entitled to a stamp duty rebate

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Primas Law is urging landlords and property developers to seek legal advice about potential stamp duty rebates on ‘uninhabitable’ second properties after a landmark tribunal case. A recent ground-breaking case, between P N Bewley Ltd and HMRC, held that properties that are not immediately habitable at the time of completion do not constitute as a “dwelling” for the purpose of the Finance Act 2003.

This finding could have major implications for the UK housing market, according to Primas Law, as the decision meant that P N Bewley was not liable to pay the additional 3% stamp duty surcharge applicable to second homes. It could mean that those who have paid stamp duty on similar uninhabitable properties – including potentially thousands of landlords and developers – may have paid an inappropriate level of tax and could seek to reclaim them.
Consequently, Primas Law is being instructed to act for a large and growing number of landlords and developers seeking to recover stamp duty paid for properties that, potentially, should not have attracted the additional tax.

Daniel Thomas, Head of Litigation at Primas Law, said: “To provide more context to this particular case, the property that P N Bewley purchased was a bungalow and a plot of land in Western-super-Mare.

“The company’s intention was to demolish the bungalow and build a new dwelling on the land with planning permission already being granted. The bungalow was essentially a derelict building that had been unoccupied for around three years.

“The tribunal was provided with photographs of the derelict building and these demonstrated the heating system, radiators, floorboards and pipework had been removed, and that the property – both internally and externally – was in a very poor condition.

“It was also provided with reports from surveyors that concluded asbestos was present in the property and urgently needed removing.”

COMMENT

If you are a developer and are buying property unfit for habitation, then this law could definitely apply, but you may need to use a solicitor who is up to date with property law, as most who simply deal with run of the mill conveyancing may not be aware of this law, or not familiar with the process of appeal, meaning that you could potentially pay out many thousands that you need not pay.