Property News Archive

September 08

Buy to let investors to benefit from new stamp duty amnesty

Buy to let investors could benefit unexpectedly from a stamp duty amnesty on properties worth up to £175,000.

From September 3, the one per cent stamp duty for any residential property under the value would be waived for a year, allowing buyers to save up to £1,750 per property. The measure, which meant about half of all property transactions would be free of the tax, was aimed at first-time buyers, however experts feared they would continue to struggle with higher mortgage rates.

Investors, in contrast, often boast larger cash deposits to draw upon, so the prospect of buying property under the threshold was obtainable and now appeared much more attractive.

The amnesty was designed to make the market "fairer for all," but as a direct result, vendors stuck with properties on at £200,000 had moved to cut their prices by £15,000. However, bargain-hungry investors could defer any bid they intended to make until property prices fell further, given they had until September 2009 to buy tax-free.

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