However, it was hoped that by increasing this threshold by an extra £50,000 more buyers would be tempted to look at purchasing a home, and this would help to revive the property market, which was suffering badly at the time.

However, the stamp duty holiday was only ever a temporary measure, and come to an end at the end of 2009. This means that the threshold for stamp duty exemption will fall back down to its original level of £125,000.

This could put many first time buyers off from jumping onto the property ladder unless they can find a property that falls within the stamp duty exemption level, and a number of industry groups have criticised the government’s decision to bring the stamp duty holiday to an end.

However, it has emerged that home buyers in Bloxham are going to get lucky because they will still be able to enjoy the benefits of the stamp duty holiday courtesy of a house builder.

Taylor Wimpey has announced that it will continue to cover the cost of the stamp duty for purchasers that decide to buy selected properties. The developer hopes that this will help to further boost the property market and renew interest in new build properties.

A spokesperson for the group, Anne Wallace, stated: “The stamp duty holiday was largely seen as a step in the right direction and provided much needed support for many first time buyers particularly in the Midlands where a number of properties are under £175,000. Our scheme will continue to support these purchasers as well as those buying larger houses where the cost of stamp duty is even greater.”

Buyers In Bloxham Can Continue To Enjoy Stamp Duty Holiday is a post from: Glitec Loans

Properties under the value of £125,000 have always been exempt from stamp duty, and by increasing this threshold to £175,000 on a temporary basis the government hoped to help more people onto the property ladder whilst at the same time boosting property sales in a struggling market.

However, recent figures have shown that whilst many consumers were optimistic about the move and welcomed the suspension of stamp duty the measure has not helped as many people as was hoped.

The government had predicted that based on the number of people that would save on stamp duty buyers would collectively save £600 million on house purchases in the first twelve months. However, according to figures released by the property website zoopla.co.uk only £173 million was saved during this period.

It is thought that there are a number of reasons why the figures have been so disappointing compared to the figures that had been predicted.

One of the main factors is that many would be first time buyers have found it extremely difficult to get a mortgage at all in the current climate regardless of stamp duty requirements, partly due to increased stringency from lenders and partly due to the high deposit levels that lenders have been demanding.

Nicholas Leeming from Zoopla said: “The stamp-duty holiday has so far failed to reinvigorate the housing market. Rather than ending it, the Government should consider extending it by making first-time buyers permanently exempt and by giving others the ability to defer payment for up to, say, five years.”

Stamp duty suspension was not as useful as hoped is a post from: Glitec Loans

The stamp duty holiday was launched this time last year in a bid to try and increase affordability for struggling property purchasers and increase activity in the failing property market.

Whilst no stamp duty needs to be paid on properties under the value of £125,000 the new measure from the government meant that for a limited period of time properties valued at between £125,000 and £175,000 would also be exempt from stamp duty.

The stamp duty holiday on properties between these values is set to come to an end on New Year’s Eve, however, which means that many homebuyers will have to move quickly to save themselves money.

From the start of 2010 the stamp duty level of properties between £125,000 and £175,000 will return to its previous level of 1 percent of the property value, and most industry officials have said that they doubt that they government will extend the measure again. This could cost buyers up to £1750 in stamp duty if they miss the exemption window.

One industry official said: ‘If, as current surveys suggest, the housing market is beginning to pick up, then buyers who can secure themselves a reasonable mortgage and can afford the deposit should certainly take advantage of the tax window.’

However, another official said that consumers should avoid rushing into a purchase just to meet the stamp duty deadline, stating: ‘The savings offered by the stamp duty window, although far from negligible, are not huge relative to the final sum. By taking their time over a deal the buyer may save himself more money than the tax window would have done.’

Stamp duty holiday set to come to an end is a post from: Glitec Loans

This is a tax that is payable on the purchase of land in the UK. This is in addition to the offer to help home buyers pay the taxes charged by the councils in different areas on the transaction of the sale of a home.

Not to be outdone by Halifax, other lenders entered the competition with deals of their own in order to attract first time home buyers as customers. Abbey cut the loan rate for those who could even make a small amount of deposit on the mortgage. This lender, which has Spanish ownership, cut the mortgage rate to 6.89% from 7.09% for those who could place a deposit of 10% of the purchase price. In addition, they cut almost £2499 to £995.

Even this slight decrease in the interest rate will mean a savings of £46 per month on the mortgage payment on a home costing £150,000, which is the current price of the average home in the UK at the present time.

Co-op Bank, which is planning to merge with the Britannia Building Society, recently announced that first time home buyers applying for a mortgage can have a co-signer on the document by using the income of a family member or friend who is willing to guarantee the repayment of the loan.

It was actually HSBC who initiated this competition in the mortgage lending business. It shocked the lending world by slashing its interest rates for first time home buyers to the low rate of 4.99% if they could make a 10% deposit on the loan. Experts in the industry were not impressed by this move.

This was not what buyers need at the present time, according to David Hollingworth of London & Country brokers, who stated “What first-time buyers need is better choice and better rates on loans for those with just small deposits. Incentives are fine, but you have to work out what they are really worth.”

The amount of deposit that first time home buyers can afford is what will determine the rate of interest that lenders charge for mortgages. Those who do not have the 10% deposit are still subject to the higher rates of interest on the loan. Lenders are still apply a rigid set of criteria in approving mortgages because in these uncertain economic times having a stellar credit rating remains an all-important issue in being able to receive a mortgage.

The number of mortgage approvals in January, 2009 was only a little less than 9000, according to the figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. When you compare this to the number of approvals when the housing boom was at its peak it is only about 25% of the total number of approvals for the same month. At that time, first time borrowers needed to make a deposit of just over £12,000 whereas today, they need to have an average of £30,000.

Good News from Lenders for First Time Home Buyers is a post from: Glitec Loans

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.’

Increased stamp duty relief from housing developer is a post from: Glitec Loans

Recently the government announced that it was thinking of suspending stamp duty on properties up to a certain value in order to try and boost confidence. However, rather than improving the situation this caused even more damage because the government decided to delay confirmation of this move until the autumn. Many buyers who had been looking to buy and even some that had put in offers decided to wait or pull out in case they could save money later in the year due to stamp duty suspension.

Due to this the government was forced to make its decision and announce the move earlier, and has decided to suspend stamp duty on properties up to the value of £175,000 for a period of twelve months. Stamp duty equates to 1% of the property value, and was already exempt on properties up to £125,000, so the threshold has only been increased by £50,000, and the maximum saving would be £1750.

However, whilst this saving may be enough for some consumers to take the plunge and buy whilst the going is good, industry experts have expressed concern that buyers in areas such as London cannot benefit because the average house price there is so much higher than the maximum exemption threshold.

Will suspension on stamp duty restore confidence amongst buyers? is a post from: Glitec Loans

The government has taken a variety of steps to try and aid the ailing mortgage and housing markets, including the launch of a £50 billion mortgage rescue plan several months ago. However, as industry officials had predicted it seems that this plan is taking some time to kick in and there has not been much of an improvement in the mortgage market in the meantime.

Of course, the issues facing the mortgage market and the lack of mortgages available have had a knock on effect on the housing sector, and the level of property sales has fallen to its lowest level in decades with some estate agents selling less than one property a week on average.

In a bid to try and breathe some life back into the housing market the government has recently announced that it is suspending stamp duty for a twelve month period on properties purchased up to the value of £175,000. It is hoped that this move will help first time buyers to more easily afford to get onto the property ladder, and will kick start house sales again. Previously no stamp duty was paid on properties up to £125,000, so the threshold for stamp duty exemption has been increased by £50,000 for a one year period.

However, whilst some people will benefit from the stamp duty suspension by saving up to £1750 on the cost of purchasing a home there are also those that will not benefit from the move, namely those purchasing properties in areas such as London where the average house price is still way above the £175,000 limit. Previously around one third of properties were exempt from stamp duty based on value, and with the increased threshold this has increased to around half of all properties. However, very few of these are likely to be in areas like London where house prices are very high.

Members of the Tory Party have said that the move by the government is simply a short term survival plan for the Prime Minister, and Tory MPs have said that if they get into power they will scrap stamp duty on any property valued at £250,000 or less, which would of course give Londoners more of a chance to avoid these hefty costs.

After announcing the stamp duty suspension the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, said: “We face a unique set of circumstances that we have not seen in generations, where you have a credit crunch and where you have high oil and food prices. But I remain optimistic, as I have said on many occasions before, that we can get through it. We will get through it and today’s measures, helping the housing market, are one example of how the government can help people.”

Will the stamp duty suspension benefit you? is a post from: Glitec Loans

Over recent weeks the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, has indicated that the government may place a suspension on stamp duty for first time buyers that are purchasing a property up to the value of £250,000. The aim of this was to increase affordability for first time buyers, who were being hit with all sorts of costs from high interest rates to increased deposit levels and crippling arrangement fees, all of which has been impacting on the ability of the first time buyer to make a purchase.

However, the government has not confirmed that this will be going ahead, and this is what is causing the problems. Many first time buyers who were getting ready to make a purchase, and even some that had already put in an offer, have now decided to hold fire, as they are concerned that just a couple of months down the line they may be able to save money on the cost of stamp duty, which could mean thousands of pounds in savings for some.

However, until the government makes a firm decision this could further impact on already slow house sales, having the opposite effect to the one that was intended. House sale levels are already being affected by tight credit conditions, falling house prices, and lack of affordability.

Referring to Alistair Darling one industry official said: ‘If he is going to suspend Stamp duty it has to be done right away. If he hints it will be announced in an October budget then the market will die.’

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Stamp duty rumours result on house sales slowing further is a post from: Glitec Loans