Homes to snap up if the stamp duty holiday is extended beyond March

Previously, stamp duty kicked in at £125,000 – or £300,000 for first-time buyers – so the move resulted in an average saving of £4,500, according to the Government, although for properties priced at £500,000, the saving is as much as £15,000.

That stamp duty holiday is due to come to an end on March 31, meaning it’s too late for new buyers to take advantage of it.

However, the Chancellor is said to be considering a six-week extension to the pause, primarily to enable people already in the process of buying a house to complete. According to Rightmove, one in five sales, or about 100,000, agreed between the summer and Christmas is yet to complete.

This means that potentially, fast movers may still be in with a chance of taking advantage of the stamp duty holiday if they are in a position to pounce and complete briskly.

That’s a big ‘if’, but even the prospect of it should be enough to pique the interest of prospective buyers.

For this kind of househunter, a newly-built property could make things progress all the more quickly, without time lost through snag-revealing surveys or foot-dragging vendors caught in chains.

The following three properties are all newbuilds and all for sale in our area. What’s more they all come in not only under the £500,000 threshold, but comfortably below £350,000, making them even more affordable.

The Asenby is a semi-detached house on plot 7 at Whinney Fields, a new development in Harrogate, near both Rossett School and Ashville College, by York-based Mulgrave Properties.

Currently still under construction, it has three bedrooms, bathroom, open-plan dining kitchen, living room and hall. Outside, there’s a garden, off-street parking on the drive, and an electric car charging port.

Mulgrave expects the house to be ready before the end of March, holding out the possibility of a stamp duty saving of £6,247.50 if reserved before then.

At Scriven, just north of Knaresborough, The Kilmington occupies plot 42 at The Lanes, a new development by Avant Homes on Bar Lane.

The semi-detached house has three bedrooms, one of them with en suite shower room, house bathroom, hall, dining kitchen, utility room and living room, which opens via bi-folding doors onto the west-facing back garden. There’s also a front garden, off-street parking on the drive, and open countryside within easy walking distance.

Finally, plot 8 at Low Mill Mews is one of 10 contemporary homes on a new development by Harewood-based Ailsa3. Just a short walk from Ripon city centre, the detached house has three bedrooms, one of them en suite, a house bathroom, study, hall, utility room and large, open-plan living kitchen. There’s also an attached single garage and small back garden.