"Property purchasers are
unaware that just exchanging contracts on their home-buy
between £125,000 and £175,000 is not enough to exempt
them from having to pay Stamp Duty of 1% " says
Trevor Kent former President of the National Association of
Estate Agents and well known property commentator, "legal
completion is the moment critique, miss-timing could be
expensive, especially for first-timers".
Stamp Duty is a Tax imposed on the buyer
of a home and payable at a variable percentage depending
on the purchase price. "Until the property crash, anyone
buying between £125,000 and £250,000 had to pay £1% of
the whole figure to HMRC for the pleasure of moving"
continues Trevor Kent, "but in an attempt to
kick-start the market, those paying £175,000 or under have
been temporally exempted from paying this hated tax, but
things are about to change".
Trevor is certain that many people
about to buy, or those already having exchanged contracts at
prices between £125,000 and £175,000 have no idea that they
will face an extra bill of up to £1750 if they do not
complete their purchase before 31st December this year when
Stamp Duty relief returns to the original rate. .
"With solicitors and
lenders likely to be closed from 23rd December to 4th
January this means completions will have to be scheduled, at
the latest, for the week before" concludes Kent.
"the problem will come where upward chains of sales
are involved, as more expensive sales will see no cash benefit for
them from rushing the completion in their busy run-up
to Christmas".
Sympathetic negotiations on
completion dates must be undertaken right now if home buyers
are to avoid a hefty additional cost associated with their
move - and at Christmas time too, when there are so many other
calls on family finances. "There is also concern that
Banks and Building Societies will not have sufficient funds
available to meet an abnormally high concentration of
completion calls in the weeks before Christmas"
concludes Trevor Kent, "all the more reason for buyers to
line up their conveyancers and mortgage lenders
in good time to avoid a Stamp Duty shock".
Ends
Editors Note
Trevor Kent is a past president of
the NAEA,
and an Estate Agent in Gerrards
Cross, he has
been a Property Market 'Guru' for
many years.
(o) 01753 885522
ISDN Radio facility by appointment
