Had an interesting e-mail from Rachel our resident independent mortgage adviser from Bright Advice. The government propose to remove the extension to the stamp duty threshold at the end of the year (currently your purchase price must be over £175,000 in order to attract tax at 1% on the whole price). Rachel is saying that with mortgage applications taking longer to process, in order to get a mortgage offer out and complete the purchase before 31st December, buyers need to be making that application in the month of September. From 1st January the threshold is supposed to go back to £125,000 so virtually everyone will be paying 1% on their purchase - that's £1,750 at £175,000 where currently it's exempt from tax. Call us if you want further information.