The Stamp Duty Holiday has been extended
I’m sure we’re all happy to hear about this holiday this year! Having been introduced in July 2020, the Stamp Duty Holiday has been credited with the increase in house sales across the country.
With the impact of Brexit and COVID-19, the welcome of the stamp duty holiday on houses between £125,000 - £500,000 has been a huge relief to buyers. Following the 2021 Budget announcement in March, the holiday has been extended until the 30th of June in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Read more. https://www.which.co.uk/news/2021/03/could-the-stamp-duty-holiday-be-extended/
Changes to the Help to Buy scheme
The Government has recently made some key changes to the Help to Buy scheme, these will be implemented from 1st April 2021 and will run until 2023.
As with the previous scheme, it’s only available in England, it only applies to new homes, built by homebuilders registered for the scheme, the house must be your main residence, and the terms of borrowing remain the same. You can take out an equity loan of up to 20% of the price of your new home, which is interest-free for the first five years. After that, interest is payable. It still requires you to pay a deposit of 5% and arrange a repayment mortgage of at least 25% of the purchase price of your home.
The key changes to the scheme mean that only first-time buyers can access the scheme and regional price capping will be introduced. The price of a new build home in Yorkshire and the Humber will be capped at £228,100. Read more. https://www.helptobuy.gov.uk