Market News & Reports

Below is the summary of measures announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the Budget.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has extended the stamp duty holiday in the Budget. Anyone buying a home worth up to £500,000 before the end of June will now not pay the tax, and could save up to £15,000, with a reduced discount available until the end of September.

Rishi Sunak is preparing to extend the stamp duty holiday by three months until the end of June in an attempt to keep the property market firing as Britain emerges from lockdown.

Rising demand and a lack of new homes coming to the market for sale will keep an upward pressure on house prices in the near term, especially in the more affordable parts of the UK. Liverpool city has annual growth running at a 15-year high.

Those with BN(O) status and their eligible family members will be able to come to the UK to live, study and work. After five years in the UK, they will be able to apply for settlement, followed by British citizenship after a further 12 months.

Millions of leaseholders will be given a new right to extend their lease by 990 years. Changes could save households from thousands to tens of thousands of pounds. Elderly also protected by reducing ground rents to zero for all new retirement properties.

The British government will allow one of the parents to stay and work in Hong Kong while his or her spouse could bring their children to study in the United Kingdom, such an arrangement was dubbed the “Astronaut Plan” in Hong Kong.

Altrincham in Trafford, Greater Manchester has been named The Sunday Times' Best Place to Live in the UK 2020, with first-class food and drink, a great community, a thriving outdoor market and two of the best schools in the northwest.