Property purchases at risk if buyers miss the 31st March Stamp Duty deadline

Fri 28 Feb 2025

Well over half of property purchases are at risk of either falling through or being delayed if buyers miss the 31st March Stamp Duty deadline.

62% of deals are dependent on being finalised within the next month.

A third of buyers (36%) may try to renegotiate the price of their property if they end up paying more Stamp Duty.

A quarter (24%) say they may have to borrow money if they miss the cut-off, which could ultimately put their purchase at risk.

Meanwhile, one in five (19%) buyers say they could pull out of their property purchase.

In fact, just a third of would-be buyers (34%) say they would proceed as planned if they missed the deadline.

The ‘nil rate’ band for home movers will drop from £250,000 back to £125,000 from the 1st April, and for first-time buyers, the threshold will go down from £425,000 to £300,000.

As thousands of buyers rush to complete their property purchases ahead of the Stamp Duty deadline, we’re seeing a conveyancing crunch that impacts buyers and sellers alike.

Conveyancers are juggling high volumes of clients, all keen to press forward at speed, and it simply won’t be possible to meet all this demand.

Sellers may have to take a hit on the purchase price to offset buyers’ additional costs and buyers may have to borrow extra funds.

Both parties could be at risk of breaking their chains, which could have far-reaching implications for their finances, and their lives.