Barratt Homes, a giant in the housing development sector, has recently launched a new incentive to try and boost the property market by offering to pay the stamp duty for buyers purchasing properties between £175,000 and £500,000. Properties under the value of £125,000 are exempt from stamp duty, and properties between £125,000 and £175,000 are exempt on a temporary basis, after the government introduced a twelve month suspension on stamp duty up to £175,000 recently to try and breathe life back into the housing market.

Barratt Homes has now stated that it will pay the 1% stamp duty on new homes between £175,000 and £250,000 and will cover the 3% stamp duty charged on homes between £250,000 and £500,000. Potentially this could save a buyer up to £15,000 depending on the value of the property being purchased. The property developer plans to make this new incentive available until Christmas in an effort to boost its flagging property sales, which have plummeted by nearly 70%.

The stamp duty suspension that was announced by the government recently was described by many officials has being too little too late, and as a result of this a number of property developers have brought in a range of incentives to try and boost property sales and profits, including payment of stamp duty and deposits for new buyers.

An official from Barratt Homes said that the market was still in turmoil, with falling property prices and lack of mortgage availability severely impacting upon property sales levels.

He said: ‘There is little prospect for any material improvement in trading conditions until mortgage finance and customer confidence return.’

If you like this post why don't you subscribe to our feed?

Related Articles

• Will suspension on stamp duty restore confidence amongst buyers?
Over recent months industry officials, housing developers, and the government have been desperately looking at ways to breathe life back onto the housing market, after house sales plummeted to record lows and estate agents reported
• Will the stamp duty suspension benefit you?
Although house prices have been falling for almost a year in the UK many consumers are still unable to afford to purchase a home due to a variety of factors. Mortgages are in short supply
• Stamp duty rumours result on house sales slowing further
Over recent months the number of property sales going through estate agents in the UK has plummeted, with estate agents reporting some of the lowest property sales figures in years. In fact, according to recent
• The Advantages Of Getting A Self-Build Mortgage
With the spiraling cost of the UK housing market, more and more new homebuyers are looking at the alternative option of building their own home. If the idea of building your own home sounds romantic
• Mixed reactions on housing proposals from government
The government in the UK has made a number of new proposals recently to try and kick start the slow housing market, and amongst the actions taken by the government are a suspension in stamp