The stamp duty holiday was extended in March to keep home buyers interested in purchasing property. The tax relief was pushed for a few more months and was due to be reduced at the end of June and then completely be eliminated at the end of September. The rush to buy as the March deadline neared caused concern that without the discount home buyers would retreat. The extension kept the housing market busy, but despite the 30 June deadline to reduce the savings, buyers have remained and demand is still strong.

Homeowners have been encouraged to consider a remortgage. With the ability to get a lower interest rate, a homeowner could save hundreds of pounds per month if not more. Those most encouraged to shop for a remortgage are the homeowners that had their mortgage deal end and because they did not remortgage were moved to their lender’s standard variable rate (SVR). On a SVR, the homeowner could be paying on an interest rate that is double or more that offered with a remortgage. No one should pay more than necessary, especially during a pandemic, and certainly no one should be paying double or more than they need to pay.

For homeowners considering a remortgage, we have one question, “What are you waiting for?" Borrowing has become cheaper than seen during the economic crisis. The standard base interest rate set by the Bank of England is at a historic low, which means it is the lowest interest rate ever set by the Bank in over 300 years. If you don’t understand what a low interest rate means, it is the cost of borrowing. Lower interest rates make it cheaper to borrow than higher rates. With historic lows, that means borrowing is cheap, and very cheap in relation to what was seen before the pandemic and before.

The housing market was expected to begin cooling off in July. It would be a slow decline back to a somewhat normal state, so said experts. However, it appears that demand could be gaining traction despite factors at play that were expected to slow down the buying frenzy from home buyers.

The stamp duty holiday deadline is nearing and will come to a close on 30 September. That means the tax savings to home buyers at property purchase levels of £250,000 or less will disappear. Many believed that the stamp duty holiday was the cause of the surge in demand on the housing market and without it the market will cool down, but that could be off the mark.

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will be meeting again towards the end of September on the 23rd. Only days later, the stamp duty holiday will come to an end on the 30th. Both of those events could very well impact the housing market. The big question is if the MPC meeting will result in interest rates increasing.