Rishi Sunak has confirmed that the stamp duty holiday will be extended until the end of September.

The chancellor announced that the up-to-£500,000 “nil-rate band” for stamp duty will finish at the end of June, rather than the end of March, as planned. It will then be tapered until September.

Until 30 June 2021, no stamp duty will be charged on a residential property bought for up to £500,000. This covers the majority of houses and flats in the UK.

Until 30 September 2021, no stamp duty will be charged on a residential property bought for up to £250,000.

Whilst the extension to the stamp duty holiday will be welcomed for those with property sales already agreed, it creates new cut off dates in June and again in September.

This extension will continue to add to the strain already being felt by both buyers and sellers as they look to complete on transactions ahead of these cut off dates. So be prepared for a June and September ‘rush’.

The chancellor also announced that first-time buyers will get a “government guarantee” on mortgages, with a deposit of 5%. Many big lenders are already backing the scheme.

The new mortgage guarantee scheme is designed to help more first-time buyers onto the housing ladder.

Mortgages with 5% deposits have been stopped by most banks during the Covid pandemic.