Monday, October 12, 2009
Category:
Home Improvements
According to new Halifax research, 31 percent of home buyers did not have to pay stamp duty between September 2008 and June 2009.
This equates to 112,000 home buyers across England and Wales, and came about as a result of the temporary threshold increase from £125,000 to £175,000 a year ago.
It is estimated that 27 percent of first time buyers were exempt from stamp duty between September 2008 and August 2009 due to the nil rate threshold being raised. During this period, just 17 percent of first time buys were recorded to have been above the £175,000 threshold. Had the threshold remained at £125,000, 43 percent of first time buyers would have had to shell out for stamp duty.
Halifax points out that the number of home buyers to have benefited from the threshold increase would have been significantly higher in previous years when the volume of house sales was not as low. Throughout the period from September 2008 to June 2009, 366,000 house sales were recorded in England and Wales, which marks a 50 percent reduction compared to a year earlier.
Housing economist at Halifax, Martin Ellis, commented: "The temporary raising of the lowest stamp duty tax threshold has removed a significant number of homebuyers from the tax net. This has been a boost to many people in a very difficult economic climate. The impact has added to the far more significant effect of the reduction in house prices in helping to reduce the costs of buying a home over the past year. Lower prices have also brought some properties below £175,000, therefore making the purchasers of such properties exempt from stamp duty whereas they would not have been a year ago."
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Homeowners who have just moved into a new property, but do not have the funds required to make their new place their palace, could consider taking out a secured loan to fund the desired work. One of many finance options available, a secured loan for
home improvements could facilitate a range of household projects from re-decoration to structural changes. For example, an extension or conservatory could be added to the property to create extra living space, or the attic could be converted into a useful office or extra bedroom. Some borrowers may also wish to invest in a new kitchen or bathroom to suit their taste.
