Government not planning to extend the stamp duty holiday

The government doesn’t plan to extend the stamp duty holiday, which is due to expire at the end of March.

A petition was launched, which gained 22,156 signatures at the time of writing, asking for a stamp duty holiday extension for an additional six months.

In response, the government said: “The SDLT holiday was designed to be a temporary relief to stimulate market activity and support jobs that rely on the property market.

“The government does not plan to extend this temporary relief.”

The stamp duty holiday saw the starting threshold rise from £125,000 to £500,000 from July 2020.

The government said it launched the holiday in response to a 50% fall in property transactions during the first lockdown.

The idea was to stimulate immediate momentum in the property market and to support the jobs of people whose employment relied on custom from the property industry.

However the government added: “SDLT is an important source of government revenue, raising several billion pounds each year to help pay for the essential services the government provides.”

The delays in property transactions means there’s a danger that some buyers could miss out on benefitting from the holiday if they don’t complete by the end of March.