New data from the Bank of England has found a new wave of home loans after Rishi Sunak extended the stamp duty holiday for six months.
The number of mortgage approvals increased from 83,400 to 86,900 after the announcement made in April.
“Overall, the extension of the stamp duty holiday appears to be leading to renewed acceleration in housing market activity,” said Andrew Wishart, property economist at Capital Economics.
“But the strength of the data in February and March when the original deadline loomed suggests buyer demand will be resilient to the end of the tax break this autumn, with demand underpinned by low mortgage rates and a strong economic recovery.”
Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, commented on the extension: “The extension is fair because completion dates for buyers and sellers have been jeopardised through no fault of their own.”
The tax break comes to an end on 30 June and after this date, there is a staggering return until the end of September to previous stamp duty rates.
