London property developer offers stamp duty holiday extension for six months

London property developer Galliard Homes has launched a six month stamp duty holiday extension across several of its key developments in the capital.

The extension applies to all properties priced up to £500,000 ($684,856), with Galliard footing the bill for the tax due on properties which complete before the 1 October deadline. This means buyers can save up to £15,000 on a new home if they complete their purchase before 1 October 2021.

For any properties priced above £500,000, the company will pay the first £15,000, with the buyers covering the remaining cost.

The UK government introduced a nationwide stamp duty holiday on the first £500,000 of all property sales until 31 March 2021 as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The pandemic and subsequent lockdown caused uncertainty for those buying and selling property and transactions fell by as much as 50% during the first national lockdown, according to the government. The stamp duty holiday was brought in to stimulate immediate momentum in the property market and to support the jobs of people whose employment relied on the property industry.

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Property industry experts have called for the government to extend or amend the stamp duty holiday deadline, with many transactions caught in paperwork and COVID-19 delays, according to Galliard.

An estimated 100,000 property transactions will miss the deadline, according to Rightmove.

A petition to extend the holiday has reached over 100,000 signatures which means the issue will be debated in parliament.

Galliard said their six month extension will give buyers confidence despite the current uncertainty over whether the government holiday will be extended.

Nine of Galliard’s London developments qualify for the extension, including locations in Southwark, Ealing, Romford, London Docklands, Leyton, Southall, Wimbledon, and Chelmsford.

The sites range from first-time buyer schemes to luxury central London developments, according to Galliard.

“For many young buyers, the cost of stamp duty can drastically affect their deposit budget, with buyers forced to limit their options in order to have money aside for stamp duty tax,” said David Galman, sales director at Galliard Homes.

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“The current government deadline has created somewhat of a bottleneck for the buying process, with reports of huge delays on purchases, so our extension allows buyers to secure their dream home with us without the stress of needing to complete this March.

“If the government does decide to reconsider the cliff-edge deadline approaching that will be a huge boost but for now our customers can buy with confidence knowing their stamp duty savings are guaranteed with us for an additional six months.”

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