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Published: 10 March 2021

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Thousands of homebuyers will have breathed a sigh of relief. Buying a home is stressful at the best of times, but in the recent months the usual strains have been magnified.

The stamp duty holiday created a frenzy of activity, with thousands more homebuyers than usual competing for conveyancers, surveyors and property checks.

The pandemic has added further strain, with social distancing rules making viewings more complicated and illness creating delays.

Without an extension, thousands of deals would likely have fallen through because buyers could not get a purchase over the line in time.

Brian Murphy, head of lending at Mortgage Advice Bureau, says: 'Home buyers currently in the process of completing their property transactions can now breathe easy. The extension offers some much needed latitude to the industry as conveyancers have been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of transactions - and should help ease the current bottleneck.'

The taper should also avert a cliff edge, softening the blow for buyers who don't complete by the end of June.

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Published: 09 March 2021

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Rishi Sunak has said the stamp duty holiday will be extended until the end of June. That means homebuyers in England and Northern Ireland will pay no stamp duty on properties worth up to £500,000. The extension will save an additional 300,000 home buyers up to £15,000, according to property website Rightmove.

An extension to the deadline was widely expected. But in a surprise move, the Chancellor also announced that stamp duty will be tapered after the holiday ends. The threshold will drop to £250,000 until the end of September before returning to its normal level of£125,000.

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Published: 01 March 2021

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Tens of thousands of young people will get their first step on the housing ladder under a mortgage scheme due to be announced in the budget this week.

Buyers will be able to obtain a mortgage with a deposit of only 5 per cent of the value of a property under the plan to turn "generation rent" into "generation buy".

The Treasury will guarantee part of the loan to encourage banks to offer riskier mortgages on properties worth up to £600,000.

Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, will outline the scheme in the budget on Wednesday. He said: "Owning a home ia a dream for millions and we want to help as many people as possible".

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Published: 26 February 2021

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Rishi Sunak is considering extending the stamp duty holiday until the end of June to boost the housing market, it has been reported.

Last July the Chancellor exempted most buyers from the levy if they completed sales before March31st, 2021 - saving them up to £15,000.

Now he is preparing to use next week's Budget to extend the holiday by another three months, The Times said.

The policy covers the sale of property worth up to £500,000 and would cost around £1 billion to implement. It comes amid concerns that not extending the holiday would create a cliff edge, jeopardising hundreds of thousands of sales.