Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in the Budget that the Stamp Duty Land Tax (“SDLT”) holiday will be extended from its initial end date of March 31 to June 30. After that, the holiday will remain on properties valued up to £250,000 until September 30.
Law firm Wilsons says this could lead to a second wave of buy-to-let investments being made. In the fourth quarter of 2020, 61,800* buy-to-let properties were purchased, the highest quarterly figure since 2017. Wilsons say the SDLT holiday was a significant contributor to this upturn in property transactions.
Buy-to-let investors have purchased 102,267** properties, since the SDLT holiday came into effect in July 2020,
Imogen Lea, a tax consultant at Wilsons, says: “The welcome three-month extension to the SDLT holiday gives potential property investors a second chance to purchase with no SDLT up to £500,000.”
“The extension to properties valued at £250,000 or less, which will be introduced in July and run to September 30, could see more sustained growth in buy-to-let investments in parts of the country where property prices are lower, or in smaller dwellings.”
“The million-dollar question, is whether this will be enough to keep the market buoyant in the medium and long-term.”
“Landlords are also hoping that the end of the lockdown will see young professionals, many of whom have spent much of the crisis staying at their parents’ homes, return to renting in city centres.”
“Interest rates in the UK are likely to remain low for the foreseeable future, which should attract more investment to the residential property market versus virtually zero interest on bank deposits and UK
