Anyone hoping to take advantage of the stamp duty break for first-time buyers should get their skates on, says Cherry Maslen in The Sunday Telegraph. Last year’s budget gives them a “reprieve” from the 1% levy on properties bought for £250,000 or less, but is due to end on 25 March 2012.
Most property purchases take months to complete and there is likely to be a last-minute rush, so it’s advisable to start looking now. Don’t forget either that the mortgage-application process for first-time buyers tends to take longer.
However, at least first-time buyers can secure mortgages of up to 95%, an option that wasn’t available a year ago, according to Peter Jackson, co-founder of Robinson Jackson estate agency. But the best rates are available only to those with large deposits.
Parents considering investing on behalf of their children, perhaps in the town where they are at university, would do well to act now too. Remember, though, that to qualify for the stamp-duty exemption, the property must be bought in the name of the child.