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News analysis: Price hike in sight The move to bring back 95 per cent mortgages is broadly welcomed, but some warn it will make the country’s understocked housing market more expensive By Roger Baird 12 th March 2021 2:15 pm Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled his well-trailed £3.9bn mortgage guarantee scheme during the Budget, which he says will turn “Generation Rent into Generation Buy”. The move to bring back 95 per cent mortgages to the market was broadly welcomed by the industry although others cautioned it would make the UK’s understocked housing market more expensive. The scheme begins next month, with several of the UK’s largest lenders Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander already signed up. However, the country’s second-biggest lender, Nationwide, is yet to back the scheme, which acts as a guarantee for lenders, not borrowers. ....
The stamp duty holiday on homes costing up to £500,000 in England is due to come to an end on 31 March. Photograph: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images About 300,000 property purchases in England could benefit from a three-month extension in the stamp duty holiday, it has been estimated, as reports suggest the chancellor could be set to prolong the tax break in next week’s budget. The tax saving - which cuts the bill entirely on properties costing between £125,000 and £500,000 and reduces it on homes costing more than that - was announced last summer and is due to end on 31 March. However, Rishi Sunak is understood to have decided to extend it for three months in line with other measures to support the economy. ....
The industry has been reacting to the news that the stamp duty holiday could be extended to June in the upcoming March Budget. Some have warned against an extension, suggesting that more problems could arise and that it is delaying an inevitable ‘cliff edge’, whilst others have welcomed the news. Simon Nosworthy, head of the residential property department at Osbornes Law, explained that while the stamp duty holiday has provided a boost to the housing market, he believes that letting the holiday conclude on 31 March “would not be a bad thing.” He said: “Conveyancers like me and estate agents have probably never been busier thanks to the holiday. ....