Boom ... but very early days

[ladymuck]

I had the bloody opposite, moved on the 7th the day they announced the holiday starting on the 8th

But the eight was also the luckiest day of my life (apart the obvs stuff.) Got the transplant call

So lost 17K, but gained a kidney!

17k for a kidney ain't bad

[northernladyuk]

17k for a kidney ain't bad

Costs more for a liver.

[Whorty]

From losing loved family my advice would be not to rush unless you need to get 'out' from somewhere that has become toxic - which doesn't sound the case here.

Time to sit and take stock, don't make snap decisions.
Hang in there.

Correct, not toxic but also not a snap decision.

As I said previously Mrs W and I talked a lot about this over the past 12-18 months; we knew her time was getting short and she has always been my best counsel and she remained so until the end.

[Whorty]

I had the bloody opposite, moved on the 7th the day they announced the holiday starting on the 8th

But the eight was also the luckiest day of my life (apart the obvs stuff.) Got the transplant call

So lost 17K, but gained a kidney!

There is still rumour and pressure that the current stamp duty holiday may be extended in some way. Gov't said absolutely not, but let's face it, they're quite well known by now for their u-turns

Looking at the raw numbers, there are something like 300,000+ house sales currently trying to get completed before the deadline that are probably not going to make it. There is a chance that a lot of these will collapse, and for now fault of the buyers or sellers but because the institutions they rely on can't cope.

Now, the Tories might think they will get a lot of stamp duty by stopping the holiday, but if the sales end then they won't be bringing in much extra cash. Add to that the loss of income for the estate agents (estimated to be as high as £1.8bn) then the treasury will lose out.

Be much better to phase it out slowly (maybe a 1% each quarter) so there is no hard stop, or maybe (and my preferred) let anyone who has sold by the deadline be able to take advantage of the holiday even if the completion is after the 31st March.

Interesting times.

[Whorty]

I have never had a spouse who has been important to me for more than 25 seconds.....

I know you're trying to be witty, but that is actually quite sad. The 25 years I had with my wife were always fun and happy and I never for one day regretted marrying her - I actually find it sad when people complain about their partners or get divorced.

Apologies if this bed-wetting upsets anyone

[d000hg]

Correct, not toxic but also not a snap decision.

As I said previously Mrs W and I talked a lot about this over the past 12-18 months; we knew her time was getting short and she has always been my best counsel and she remained so until the end.

I don't know the details if you were able to plan quite accurately around her passing though I get the impression it certainly was not a surprise.

Even so, there is discussing plans and then quickly moving on from the place you lived, rather than taking the time before leaving somewhere presumably full of memories.
I would generally counsel not to make any big changes in your life for a year - as I was counselled myself. We did make some calls quite quickly that in retrospect were probably not the best decisions. Everyone is different though.

[ladymuck]

There is still rumour and pressure that the current stamp duty holiday may be extended in some way. Gov't said absolutely not, but let's face it, they're quite well known by now for their u-turns

Looking at the raw numbers, there are something like 300,000+ house sales currently trying to get completed before the deadline that are probably not going to make it. There is a chance that a lot of these will collapse, and for now fault of the buyers or sellers but because the institutions they rely on can't cope.

Now, the Tories might think they will get a lot of stamp duty by stopping the holiday, but if the sales end then they won't be bringing in much extra cash. Add to that the loss of income for the estate agents (estimated to be as high as £1.8bn) then the treasury will lose out.

Be much better to phase it out slowly (maybe a 1% each quarter) so there is no hard stop, or maybe (and my preferred) let anyone who has sold by the deadline be able to take advantage of the holiday even if the completion is after the 31st March.

Interesting times.

It would be interesting if there was a change to use the exchange date rather than the completion date. You'd see a rush of people exchanging contracts and then lots of property forums seeing questions such as, "I rushed to exchange and now there's an issue with [insert corner cut here], can I change the contract?"

[northernladyuk]

I know you're trying to be witty, but that is actually quite sad. The 25 years I had with my wife were always fun and happy and I never for one day regretted marrying her - I actually find it sad when people complain about their partners or get divorced.

Apologies if this bed-wetting upsets anyone

Appreciate your perspective, but put yourself in the various Mrs BPs' shoes.

[Whorty]

Appreciate your perspective, but put yourself in the various Mrs BPs' shoes.

[Whorty]

It would be interesting if there was a change to use the exchange date rather than the completion date. You'd see a rush of people exchanging contracts and then lots of property forums seeing questions such as, "I rushed to exchange and now there's an issue with [insert corner cut here], can I change the contract?"

There would have to be so many clauses in the contract that it wouldn't be worth the paper it's written on and I don't think would be a good option. I do like the 'house sold and under offer by 31st March' as this is provable, is a cut off date for the gov't but also allows the various parts of the sales process to do their jobs without the risk that one (usually the local gov't searches) bringing the whole process down.

As always with the Tories it's ill thought out. They constantly struggle to see the bigger picture hence why they are forced to u-turn so often. Definitely a watch this space .... if they don't extend there is going to be chaos.