Stamp Duty Suspended on Property under GBP 175,000

Recent news that stamp duty is to be suspended for one year on properties that cost less than £175,000 in a bid to boost the ailing housing market can only be good news for Bury, according to Shefali Talukdar - a senior partner and residential property solicitor at Clough & Willis.

'Bury, like many towns across the North West and the rest of the UK, has seen a slump in its housing market thanks, in part, to years of spiralling price rises. Recent reports that repossessions are on the increase and that the economy has hit its lowest point in 60 years has just added to the woe, so this news will hopefully kick start the crucial first time buyer sector that has been simply priced out of the market.'

The good news doesn't stop at the stamp duty holiday as first-time buyers who have less than £60,000 annual income will be able to buy newly built properties with an equity loan of up to 30% of the property's value.

The government has also announced a number of initiatives to help families and homeowners in financial difficulty. The new £1bn scheme will enable people to sell their property to a registered social landlord who will pay off the mortgage and then offer the sellers the option to rent the property at a lower price.

They will also have the opportunity to enter into shared ownership scheme which means owning part of a property with another party, usually a housing association, and then paying rent to them for the part that they own. This has been a growing trend over the last few years as it is possible for buyers to increase their share as time goes by, sometimes up to 100%.

Shefali Talukdar said; 'These new schemes have a number of benefits for different groups so I'm hopeful this is the start of a much needed recovery programme including right here in Bury - especially as last week our very own metropolitan borough council reduced the price of the local search in this area from £120 to £79.'