The UK government may follow the Welsh lead on stamp duty and introduce a new tax hike on second homes, according to a leading tax expert.
Many agents would like to see the government aim to stimulate housing market activity next year by abolishing the 3% stamp duty surcharge for buy-to-let landlords buying additional properties in England, but that is unlikely to happen.
Sean Randall
In fact, following the Welsh government’s decision yesterday to increase land transaction tax – the Welsh version of stamp duty – the UK government may now follow suit by announcing a similar increase for homes in England.
The start of the year seems like an age ago.
As a person whose life is spent meeting and interacting with people, having worked from home since March, I’d be lying to say it’s not been a struggle on occasion, but I sit here writing this article feeling fit and well and thinking of those not nearly as lucky as I have been.
I am sure many reading this must feel the same.
Thinking back, everybody hit the start of 2020 extremely positively, with many intermediaries and lenders reporting high volumes and being ahead of targets.
Even when news started to get more serious about what the COVID-19 outlook could be, it was still very surreal.
INTEREST rates across the UK are impacted by what the Bank of England set as a base rate, which goes on to affect mortgages, pensions and savings. As such, many people keep an eye on what the central bank decrees throughout the year and today, they have released data on a new survey which examines what the public wants to see happen with inflation and interest rates.