The couple are among thousands of people facing a mad scramble to get their purchases over the line before stamp duty changes kick in next week.
However, from 1 April the threshold for first-time buyers will drop to £300,000 while for everyone else, it will be halved to £125,000.
“We put an offer in in January and the sellers wanted a quick move because they’re moving into a chain-free property,” Sven told The i Paper.
Fortunately, they exchanged contracts this week and are due to complete their purchase on 31 March, just in time.
First-time buyers in England who currently benefit from an exemption on properties up to £425,000, and a reduced rate on purchases up to £625,000 (Photo: Sviatlana Zyhmantovich/Getty Images)Sven added: “We’ve already had to scrape money together for the deposit and legal fees – to need £1,500 on top would have been very difficult for us.
“We were staring in the face of homelessness, we had already given our notice on our rental property. We had nowhere to go.”
A collective £142m is on the line due to the Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ decision to revert the stamp duty thresholds at her October Budget.
There had been calls for the deadline to be extended in the Spring Statement but Reeves made no mention of it on Wednesday.
“Buying your first home is stressful enough, it should be a good experience, something which you’ve worked hard for.
“The feeling of relief when we exchanged was huge – but there’s going to be thousands of people out there who are going to be scuppered and chains break down because of it.
Spike in house moves
Jess Baudry, a broker at True Mortgages, said she has dealt with triple the number of house moves she would normally be handling at this time of year.
“For me, I see it all the time and I know it’s going to be OK.
Broker Jess Baudry said her caseload has tripled compared to the same period last year because of the deadline (Photo: Supplied)
Ms Baudry said conveyancers – solicitors who play a key role in housebuying – have been under particular strain.
“For a solicitor that is super hard, they bear the brunt of it.
Although some completions will go through in the next few days, Ms Baudry said most mortgage lenders have insisted that funds have been released by no later than 26 March due to the scale of demand.
square PROPERTY Our house purchase is delayed due to stamp duty deadline - it's costing us thousands
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“Most lenders wanted it lined up last week because half the country is trying to get this lined up by Monday.
“I do feel for a lot of people – the ones who’ve been looking for a while and they are going to get burned.”
“Our numbers show how there is a relatively small, but disproportionately impacted group of first-time buyers who will be caught out by the changing thresholds, highlighting some disparities in the way the current system works.”
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