Solicitor firm backs new Help to Buy and stamp duty cuts in upcoming budget

The government should cut stamp duty on second property purchases and introduce a scheme similar to Help to Buy to improve the state of the market, according to Gina Peters, head of landlord & tenant at Dutton Gregory Solicitors.

The spring budget will take place on 6 March, while it’s been reported that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is set to launch a 99% mortgage scheme reminiscent of Help to Buy.

Peters noted that landlords are frustrated with the upcoming abolition of Section 21, which could make things even more challenging for buy-to-let landlords.

He said: “With the upcoming Spring Budget, the government can do many things to put buy-to-let landlords at ease. First, they should reintroduce a reduction on stamp duty on second properties purchased to let out, to make it more viable for landlords to have bigger property portfolios.

“Secondly, to bring back some sort of mortgage relief. With the younger generation unable to afford to buy a property, we need to make it easier for landlords to stay in the buy-to-let market as their importance in this key area of the economy has increased enormously.

“To tackle the exceeding demand of rental properties, the government also needs to incentivise getting out of the rental market and provide first time buyers with something similar to Help to Buy. If there wasn’t such a demand, then we wouldn’t be in the current housing crisis we are facing, and the pending abolishment of Section 21 wouldn’t have such a big impact.”