Thousands of homebuyers will have breathed a sigh of relief. Buying a home is stressful at the best of times, but in the recent months the usual strains have been magnified.
The stamp duty holiday created a frenzy of activity, with thousands more homebuyers than usual competing for conveyancers, surveyors and property checks.
The pandemic has added further strain, with social distancing rules making viewings more complicated and illness creating delays.
Without an extension, thousands of deals would likely have fallen through because buyers could not get a purchase over the line in time.
Brian Murphy, head of lending at Mortgage Advice Bureau, says: 'Home buyers currently in the process of completing their property transactions can now breathe easy. The extension offers some much needed latitude to the industry as conveyancers have been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of transactions - and should help ease the current bottleneck.'
The taper should also avert a cliff edge, softening the blow for buyers who don't complete by the end of June.
