Vistry East Midlands – part of the newly-formed Vistry Group, which includes Bovis Homes and Linden Homes – has developments across Cambridgeshire and says the move will provide valuable support for people looking to move up the property ladder following the coronavirus pandemic.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak this week announced that stamp duty would be paused on the purchase of homes worth up to £500,000 until March 31, 2021.

Prior to the change, housebuyers paid stamp duty on homes worth over £125,000, or over £300,000 if they were a first-time buyer. Anyone purchasing a property worth £500,000 would previously have paid £15,000 in stamp duty but will now avoid the tax altogether.

The chancellor remarked that the average stamp duty bill will fall by £4,500, and nine of out ten buyers buying a main home will pay no stamp duty at all.

Nic Chapman, Sales and Marketing Director for Vistry East Midlands, said: “This stamp duty holiday is a welcome measure which will help to get the housing market moving in the right direction again following the lockdown.

“The announcement is great news for all house buyers, but especially for second-steppers, many of whom will now be able to move into a larger property which meets their needs without the added financial pressure of having to pay thousands of pounds in stamp duty.

“With the stamp duty holiday in place for the next nine months and the current Help to Buy Scheme now only available on homes which are completed by December 31, the second half of this year really is an opportune moment for buyers to make the move to their dream home.

“While the stamp duty announcement is a positive for housebuyers, we appreciate that any changes to the existing rules can be unsettling to those currently going through the purchase process. At Vistry, we are committed to supporting our customers through these changes and our sales teams will be providing clarity and guidance to buyers on what the new rules mean for them.”

The current Help to Buy scheme enables buyers - both first-time buyers and existing homeowners – to purchase a new-build home up to the value of £600,000 with a five per cent deposit and a 75 per cent mortgage, with the remaining 20 per cent being provided in the form of a Government-backed equity loan, which is interest-free for the first five years.

From 1 April 2021, this scheme will be replaced by a new version of Help to Buy, which will be restricted to first-time buyers and have regional price caps – with a price limit of £407,400 in the East of England. Any home purchased under the existing scheme will need to be built by December 31 this year in order to qualify.

Bovis Homes is currently building in Hampton Water at Peterborough. Linden Homes is currently building in Cambridgeshire at its All Angels Park, The Boulevards, Laithwaite Gardens, Brampton Park, St Thomas Park, Bowlands Park and Kingsley Place developments

For more information, visit vistrygroup.co.uk. For more information on Linden Homes click here.