The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced in the budget 3rd March 2021 that the temporary stamp duty holiday in England and Northern Ireland has been extended for a further 3 months. The property purchase tax has been suspended on the first £500,000 of all sales in England and Northern Ireland until the 30th June 2021. After that the nil rate band will be set at £250,000, double its standard level, until the end of September. Rishi Sunak told MPs the extra move was “to smooth the transition back to normal”. The nil rate band for stamp duty will return to the usual level of £125,000 from 1st October 2021. The stamp duty holiday was introduced to help buyers who might have taken a financial hit because of Covid. It was also intended to boost a property market hit by lockdown.
Changes to Stamp Duty for Overseas Buyers
The Chancellor Rishi Sunak had announced in the 2020 Budget, that Stamp Duty payable by overseas buyers would be changed to include a surcharge of 2%. This surcharge came into force on 1 April 2021; Overseas buyers will now pay rates 2% higher than rates payable by UK residents. The surcharge will apply to the purchase of freehold and leasehold properties.
The contents of this article do not constitute legal advice and are provided for general information purposes only.
The contents of this post do not constitute legal advice and are provided for general information purposes only ■
