Stamp duty: Mortgage expert shares how to ‘speed up’ property sale before SDLT deadline

Buying property is a long and expensive process that can involve a plethora of individuals. Legal problems, a break in the chain or even someone falling ill can all lead to delays that can push the process back weeks. To encourage Britons to buy property during the pandemic, Chancellor Rishi Sunak axed stamp duty land tax in July to save homebuyers potentially thousands.

Anyone buying a home or land for less than £500,000 currently doesn’t have to pay the property tax.

However, purchases have to be completed between July 8, 2020 and March 31, 2021.

Last week, it was revealed that stamp duty could be extended after more than 100,000 people signed a petition for the stamp duty holiday to be extended for a further six months after the March 31 deadline.

The petition was called “Extend the Stamp Duty Holiday for an additional 6 months after 31st March 2021”.

There have also been further calls for Mr Sunak to scrap the property tax completely along with council tax.

READ MORE: Rishi Sunak to ‘reform’ taxes in March budget – impact on IHT explored

Firstly, Mr Smith advises trying to get your offer accepted and being clear the your offer is dependent on the ability complete the purchase before March 31.

If you’re clear at the start that the SDLT holiday is crucial to the sale, it will save money and hassle further on down the line.

Mr Smith also said you need to consider the chain when you look to purchase a property.

He explained: “If there are lots of transactions all tied-together in a chain, this could be either a blessing or a curse.

“In theory, everyone in the chain should be collectively motivated to move before the deadline, but in reality, there is a lot more that could go wrong with the purchase as it can only take one transaction to fall-through, to break the whole chain.”

The mortgage expert also recommends getting your mortgage offer ready, which you will need to have done in order to have made the offer on the property.

However, you will need to make a full mortgage application which can take a variable amount of time.

You can speak to your mortgage broker about which lenders are processing applications the fastest.

Mr Smith said the cheapest lenders could have a massive backlog of applications which means you could miss the stamp duty deadline.

As seasoned buyers will be aware, mortgages can require a lot of paperwork so Mr Smith recommends having payslips and other evidence like your income, identity and address at the ready.

Your lender will then need to value the property which could be an online valuation but is most likely going to be a physical, internal valuation.

Mr Smith advises buyers to express their urgency with the estate agency so they can encourage the vendor to accept an appointment as quickly as possible.

The mortgage expert also recommends buyers to have a solicitor lined up and ready to go.

However, he warned that there are potentially “record numbers” of house purchases waiting to be completed before March 31 which means solicitors are likely to be “extremely busy”.

Mr Smith advised: “As well as picking one with a great reputation, be proactive and challenging in asking them if they have genuine capacity to manage your purchase in the timeframes you want.

“A good solicitor will get the applicable searches on your property moving almost straight away, so those shouldn’t prove to be a hold-up in getting the purchase through in time.”

Chartered surveyors are also likely to be “very busy” so it’s best to get one booked as soon as possible.

Some buyers choose to skip this stage to save time but this is not advisable as you could end up having to pay potentially thousands on repairs further on down the line.

Mr Smith’s final tip is to be ready with your deposit.

Having the funds ready and available to transfer to a solicitor in good time before the completion date will help speed up the process.

source: express.co.uk