Conveyancing

Chancellor Moves To Help First Time Buyers

As part of today's Budget Chancellor Alistair Darling has announced plans to stimulate the housing market, by raising the Stamp Duty threshold from £125,000 to £250,000 for first time buyers from midnight tonight.

Lisa Shenton, Head of Conveyancing at Irwin Mitchell, said: "The announcement will come as welcome news to the thousands of people who are struggling to find the money to purchase their first home.

"At the peak of the property market the number of first time buyers reached as much as 40 per cent of all home buyers, but unfortunately the recession and the collapse of the housing market has now reduced this to around 20 per cent.

"The lack of availability of affordable mortgages without significant deposits is also hampering the number of first time purchases, with the average deposit for first time buyers approximately £34,000 in the current market.

"Given the size of the average deposit, if the banks make affordable mortgages more available to first time buyers, then this, alongside the raise in the stamp duty threshold, will certainly help to stimulate the housing market and contribute to the economic recovery."