Skipton Building Society is launching a cashback mortgage range to help homebuyers who do not manage to complete their purchase before the stamp duty deadline.
The mortgages are five-year fixed rate products and are available for those with deposits up to 5%. They provide 1.50% cashback which will be paid directly into the borrower’s bank account 15 days following completion.
Skipton is also guaranteeing it will complete all submitted cases where conveyancers have sent across certificates of title by no later than 25 March.
The stamp duty deadline is on 31 March and after this date the thresholds on the homebuying tax will change.
The nil rate for movers will fall from £250,000 to £125,000. Meanwhile, for first-time buyers it will drop from £425,000 to £300,000.
It has meant many buyers have been rushing to complete on home purchases in a bid to avoid being hit by the tax.
According to Skipton, the reforms will add £6,250 to the cost of buying a first home worth £425,000.
The building society has itself seen a 54% increase in people attempting to complete on their house purchase this month compared to March 2024. It said, of those customers, 50% were first-time buyers desperately trying to get their purchase over the line and save on stamp duty.
Meanwhile Skipton Group’s unique Home Affordability Index revealed the proportion of local authority areas in England where the average first-time buyer home falls in scope of stamp duty will almost quadruple overnight from 8.4% to 32.0% on 1 April.
Charlotte Harrison, CEO of home financing at Skipton Building Society said: “Our teams will work round the clock, doing extra hours to help as many first-time buyers complete before the stamp duty changes.
“We’re doing all we can to help but appreciate how worrying it is for some to know that if their chain does not complete in time, they face additional extra costs.
“Our Home Affordability Index research shows that the country has a chronic lack of home affordability and is about to get even worse.
“The upcoming stamp duty reforms will further hurt first-time buyers and Skipton Group has been actively urging the government to maintain the current nil rate stamp duty threshold of £425,000 for people buying their first home.
“Today’s new mortgage launch is another example of our innovative product range designed to help more people get on the property ladder and supporting the next generation of homeowners.”
The new cashback mortgages will be available from Monday 24 March.
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