March 2021
After taking time to digest the policies revealed in yesterday's Budget we tell what this indicates for hopeful home movers.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, delivered the 2021 Budget live in the House of Commons yesterday. We share how his recently declared Budget measures create possibilities for anyone looking to move home this year.
With the Stamp Duty ‘holiday’ extended by three months this means that until the end of June nobody will pay Stamp Duty up to £500,000, after that the nil rate band lowers to £250,000 and the usual level resumes from October.
Even with the Stamp Duty cut the cost of a deposit is still a significant barrier to people getting on the ladder. Due to the economic impact of Covid-19 low deposit mortgages have virtually disappeared from the market, with only 8 products available nationwide in January 2021. However, in Wednesday’s announcement the government steps up to offer lenders the guarantee needed to provide 95% mortgages.
Not only is it likely that these measures will help hundreds of thousands of people buy a home the local economy stays supported too. It is estimated that 240,000 people are employed by house-builders and their contractors with between a further 300,000 – 500,000 people in the supply chain totaling a sizable part of the UK workforce.
Livelihoods and jobs are protected through an extension of the furlough and self-employed income support schemes while businesses are aided by various grants, recovery schemes, rate and tax reductions. Meanwhile tougher actions are imposed affecting larger companies.
Of course this is welcome news for hopeful home movers and offers a seemingly promising outlook for the property industry and construction sector despite obstacles met at this moment.
