More first-time buyers avoiding stamp duty in January

With the cut-off date for managing to avoid paying stamp duty on houses priced at over £125,000 looming on March 24th, more first-time buyers are clamouring to get their hands on their own piece of UK property before it ends up costing them even more.

Earlier this week, the Council of Mortgage Lenders reported that there had been an increase in the number of people who are looking to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday, with a rise in the number taking out their first mortgage in December of last year.

Now though, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has announced that even more people have bought into the idea since the turn of the year, with the number of people buying their first properties for sale in January going up.

RICS has reported that 12 per cent more surveyors said that the number of new buyers had increased in January than those who had said they decreased, as more first timers came into the market for property.

Michael Newey, RICS housing spokesperson, said:"With first time buyers no longer exempt from stamp duty as of the end of March, it seems that some are looking to purchase homes before the deadline and, as a result, surveyors are relatively optimistic for the coming months. However, many problems with the market still exist and the lack of affordable mortgage finance is still preventing many from getting onto the property ladder."

With the stamp duty holiday set to come to an end as well, HSBC has announced this week that, in the last two years, 90 per cent of first-time buyers have managed to avoid paying the stamp duty, thanks to the holiday itself. First-time buyers are exempt from paying stamp duty at the current time if they buy a property worth less than £250,000.