Stamp Duty Incentive – What you need to know about submitting your cases.

On the 8^th July this year the current Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced a Stamp Duty Land Tax Incentive (SDLT) on all residential property until 31^st March 2021. Brokers and Lenders will recall the Buy to Let market has been in this position before in November 2015 when the government announced a 3% SDLT surcharges on all buy to let properties from the 1^st April 2016.

Buy to Let mortgages account for over 15% of the mortgage market but as the Stamp Duty Incentive covers the whole market the knock-on effect is broadly seven times larger. The impact of homeowners and landlords looking to take advantage of this incentive puts a lot of pressure on different areas within the market but particularly with local searches and physical valuations.

The SDLT impact is especially evident in the increased volume of mortgage applications submitted as buyers seek to maximise this benefit by the stipulated deadline. With these high-volume cases, we are unable to guarantee that all cases submitted will be completed by the SDLT date of March 31, 2021. We are working assiduously to ensure as many cases are completed and should you have a set deadline for completion; please inform the Keystone team by adding a note on the case via the MyKeystone portal upon submission.

What can you do to help your clients complete before the stamp duty deadline?

Review lenders service and turnaround times, ours can be found on our website homepage and the MyKeystone broker portal.

Check the timeframes of searches within the area, you can find a list for all local council’s search times which are regularly updated on the Searchflow website below.

https://www.searchflow.co.uk/news-and-events/local-authority-turnaround-time-increases/

Ensure all required documents have been uploaded to the case and that all details match the full mortgage application. If you are unsure about what documents you need then check our ID and Address guide

Discuss with your client whether it is appropriate to instruct the valuation at the same time as the full mortgage application.

If you have any questions or need any assistance with your case enquiries our Business Development Managers here to help, call the broker hotline on 0345 148 9086 or email enquiry@keystonepropertyfinance.co.uk.