MPs are scheduled to discuss a petition to extend the stamp duty holiday that has garnered more than 130,000 signatures.
The Petitions Committee has announced a session for February 1 to debate the petition to extend the temporary relief by six months beyond its current March 31 deadline.
Catherine McKinnell, chairman of the Petitions Committee, said the petition demonstrated “important issues affecting hundreds of thousands of people that are being missed”.
Ms McKinnell added: “Their calls for help and support must be heard.”
But according to Parliament’s petition website, while petitions sessions and debates are an opportunity for MPs to discuss the important issues raised by petitions, they cannot directly change the law or result in a vote to implement the request of the petition.
The financial secretary to the Treasury, Jesse Norman, will respond for the government in the session.
But Mr Norman told the Treasury Committee this month (January 18) that he could not comment on tax policy.
At the time, he said: “I cannot comment on any aspect of our tax policy. I have to leave that to the Chancellor for the Budget.”
Many in the mortgage industry have also called for an extension to the stamp duty holiday after England entered a third national lockdown.
Kate Davies, executive director at IMLA, said the lockdown would “undoubtedly” cause disruption for some buyers and that the mortgage market remained under “extreme pressure” to process a large number of buyer applications before the stamp duty holiday deadline.
It comes as research by Yes Homebuyers found 39 per cent who were buying a property said they would cancel their purchase if they missed the stamp duty holiday deadline.
The January survey of over 3,700 current homebuyers also found that 27 per cent said they would have to borrow more money to pay the stamp duty.
Claire Adams, director at Bluebell Mortgages, said: “As mortgage advisers we have been highlighting the current backlog and deadlines since last November so that our clients are fully aware of the potential for delays and the potential financial risk in not hitting the deadline.”
chloe.cheung@ft.com
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