Stamp Duty Moratorium extension and announcement of Guaranteed Mortgage scheme

Commenting on the Stamp Duty Moratorium extension and the announcement of the Guaranteed Mortgage scheme in The Chancellors Budget 2021, Carolyne Gregory, Director of Retail Lending at The Co-operative Bank said;

“Today’s announcement from The Chancellor that the Stamp Duty Moratorium will be extended will help to ensure customers already in the home moving process don’t miss out on the discount. The fast approaching original March 31 cut-off date could have put the industry under pressure because chains were unable to proceed through the process in time. This extension should also help lenders and the other service providers in the housing market to work through their cases without the frantic dash to get purchases completed.

“The announcement of the Guaranteed Mortgage Scheme is a great initiative from the Government. It could provide a real boost for many would-be home buyers and movers who were finding the need for a 10 per cent deposit on non-new build properties a stretch too far. We have seen a significant resilience in the first time buyer market with around 40 per cent of our mortgage business being made up by first time buyers in 2020, much higher than the market average of circa 26 per cent. This is testament to our tireless work to keep our 90% LTV lending products in market as much as we could and also our launch of a Professional Mortgage Range which offers improved income multipliers to those who meet the specified criteria. We are looking forward to understanding this new scheme in more detail in the coming days and we are interested in how we can be involved as we continue to look for more opportunities to help and support first time buyers take that crucial step on to the property ladder during 2021.”