On 3rd March, Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered his much-anticipated spring Budget, which announced plans on how to bolster the economy following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Most importantly, The Chancellor pledged an extension to the stamp duty holiday until 30th June, with a tapered system halving the tax until September. In addition, the business rates holiday is to be extended for a further three months.
Richard Freshwater, Director in the residential department, and Philip Woolner, joint Managing Partner, give their reactions to the news below.
Richard Freshwater, Director, Cheffins says:
“With the announcement yesterday that the stamp duty holiday will be extended fully until June and heavily discounted until September, there is no better time to sell your home. There are thousands of buyers currently searching for properties throughout the area on Cheffins’ books, and by instructing us you can make the most of the competitive market and sell your home for the highest possible price. With massive savings of up to £15,000 to be had on the stamp duty bill, the extension to the tax holiday will be of an enormous advantage for sellers at all levels within the market."
BUSINESS RATES
Philip Woolner, Managing Partner at Cheffins says:
“It will come as a sigh of relief to the struggling retail and hospitality sector that the Chancellor has decided to extend the business rates holiday. These are the businesses which were most badly affected by the pandemic, and we should be doing all we can to keep as many of them as possible afloat as we try to rebuild our failing high streets and the extension of business rates exemptions is a vital part of that effort. For retail and leisure operators, the double whammy of rents and rates payments would have been incredibly difficult for many just as we begin to emerge from restrictions, in spite of the restart grants for high streets. With the rates holiday not to be reviewed until the end of June, we hope that many leisure and retail operators will have enough time to get back on their feet before they have to start forking out once more. Following the vaccine rollout, we should be encouraging the UK population to do as much as it feasibly can to support our high streets, into whatever shape they may evolve. Hopefully this will be buoyed by the restart grants, and in time, we ought to see bustling town and city centres again as we follow the government’s ‘roadmap to recovery.’”