House buyers caught up in stamp duty scramble back Post campaign for an extension to deadline

The couple are in the ever-growing conveyancing queue after deciding to take advantage of the tax holiday and move from a three-bedroom semi in Leyland to a four-bed detached in Buckshaw Village.

And they are backing our "Don't Stamp it Out" campaign to have the holiday extended to allow those people caught up in the logjam to complete without facing the tax penalty.

Normally Sarah and Gary would have had enough time to complete before the March 31 deadline set by Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

But these are not normal times and, like many home buyers, they could end up falling over the cliff edge if the Government sticks to its plan of bringing stamp duty back on April 1.

“We have budgeted for it, but then again we haven’t,” said Sarah, who works for the NHS. “We held back money just in case.

"But if we have to pay stamp duty then we won’t be able to buy the things we wanted for our new home, like a new dining table, a new sofa and new beds for the kids.

“It’s our dream home - our forever home - and we wanted everything to be just right. But all we can do now is wait and hope. I’d certainly support a campaign to get the holiday extended.”

Sarah and Gary are amongst thousands of buyers who were prompted to move by the Government's stamp duty holiday, which began last summer.

They admit the chance to avoid the duty encouraged them to make a move after 17 years in their first home. They took the leap thinking the tax savings would be the icing on the cake.

“The stamp duty offer was definitely a part of our thinking process when we decided to move,” said Sarah.

“It meant we could put more deposit down and our mortgage payments would be less. We put our property on the market in October and we sold it on New Year’s Eve. Then we only agreed to buy the new house last week.

“Our solicitor said that pre-Covid it would have taken between six and eight weeks, so that would have meant completing within the deadline.

"But now he says it could take longer. He wouldn’t give us an estimated date because I think he didn’t want to raise our hopes.

"It’s just a matter of fingers crossed now that we can complete in time. Fortunately we have a pretty small chain so that might speed things up.

“It will be a shame if we have to pay the stamp duty and we can’t go ahead and buy new things for the house. But it won’t be the end of the world.

“We feel lucky to have got the house because so many people are out there looking to move right now that you get caught up in bidding wars. We were involved in two, but fortunately we landed this.”

The holiday has helped to create a boom in the housing market despite the Covid pandemic.

But the demand has been so great, solicitors, estate agents and mortgage lenders are now under pressure to meet the deadline, with some saying the average time to complete in the Preston area is between three and four months - double what it was before coronavirus.