The stamp duty holiday was put in place last year to assist home buyers in the housing market. The government offered complete tax relief for properties purchased up to £500,000. The deadline for the stamp duty holiday was set for the end of March. However, as the pandemic continued to impact the economy and as the deadline neared it appeared that home buyers were backing away. The decision was made to extend the tax holiday until the end of June where the relief would be reduced and the total end would occur at the end of September.

The housing market has shown remarkable resilience during the pandemic. Unexpectedly, lockdowns caused a review of dwellings and a strong desire grew for more space. Space to work, study, get fit, and a garden to spend time outdoors safely. The desire for a grander area of space may have been born from the pandemic, but it looks like it is going to stay as demand in the housing market has remained strong despite access to vaccines and relief from lockdowns.

The pandemic took a toll on the economy and that was of course expected. No one thought that lockdowns would find the economy booming. Yet, one sector of the economy did boom, and it was not expected. The housing market, which had already proved to be resilient during the turmoil of Brexit, again emerged as a surprise entry on the economic spreadsheet. The pandemic actually created a sort of perfect storm. More so for homeowners than home buyers, yet some benefitted, at least those that took a leap of faith and risk and bought early on.

While buying a home can feel like sinking into a major load of debt, at the same time it is considered an investment. That is if the home continues to add value. The value is of course a tricky thing to predict. Just like one runs the risk in investing in other things like savings, stocks, or even crypto currency, a home could come out to be a major win or a loss.

Interest rates have become increasingly lower when attached to mortgage and remortgage borrowing. Lower rates mean cheaper costs to borrow and since mortgages and remortgages tend to have such large values it makes sense to secure the lowest rate possible. When it comes to remortgages, it was recently reported that homeowners choosing to remortgage in May found an average savings of over £400 per month. Such a savings would be quite welcomed in an uncertain pandemic impacted economy. 

LMS has reported that homeowners in May remortgaged and saved on average £441 per month. The substantial savings is a result of continued low interest rates deals of which some have recently been introduced at below 1%. This is good news for homeowners seeking to save money with a remortgage, or for those seeking a fixed rate deal to secure a safety net against rising rates. Many have not only secured a lower fixed rate deal, but have put cash into hand with an equity cash release remortgage.