THE stamp duty holiday extension until the end of June has been welcomed as a timely boost for York's housing market.

Local developers say the holiday for properties up to the value of £500,000 will stimulate demand while new five per cent mortgages will let struggling first-time buyers get on the property ladder.

It means buyers avoid the duty altogether on purchases under £500,000 and will then only fall to £250,000 for another three months, before returning to its £125,000 rate.

Paul Brown, of Easingwold-based Caedmon Homes, which has developed apartments at St John’s Mews in York, said: “Now York is ready to prosper again and there is every sign that its housing market will go into overdrive.

"There is definitely a pent-up demand for quality new homes in York, given the city’s beauty and history, terrific road and rail links, outstanding private and state school schools and overall quality of life.”

David Smith, of Mulgrave Properties, was 'delighted', and said they had already seen the positive impact of the first holiday on stimulating the property market which 'remained buoyant throughout 2020'.

"Stamp duty savings enable purchasers to invest their money in other ways, often in home improvements, which in turn helps the local and wider economy."

"The demand for new homes in desirable village locations shows no sign of slowing down as people continue to evaluate their lifestyles as a result of the pandemic. People are looking forward to a new “hybrid” way of working which means they can now live where they want to, rather than where they need to.”

Mulgrave Properties has announced it will be extending the offer to all of its properties, including those valued above the government’s threshold.

The offer is now available on all of its properties in York, Harrogate and Markington up to the value of £849,950 which are ready to move into by the end of June.

Mulgrave is currently building 12 three, four and five bedroom family homes close to the centre of York. Mount Vale Gardens, which is at the bottom of the old playing fields at The Mount School and close to the Knavesmire, is a joint venture with The Helmsley Group.

Caedmon Homes have also cut prices on three apartments at St John’s Mews to coincide with the stamp duty holiday.

Two one-bed apartments with gardens are now available at £195,000 and £215,000; while a two-bed duplex apartment with a terrace is just £325,000.

Paul said: “Having already have completed one sale and put a further two apartments under offer during the most recent lockdown, we are well and truly open for business.

“We are extremely proud of St John’s Mews, which adds to the excellent reputation of the Groves as one of the city’s most popular residential areas. It is proving to be especially attractive not only to first-time buyers, who are hoping to get a foothold on to the property ladder but to buyers who are looking for a change of lifestyle or retiring to the area,” he said.

Property professionals said the announcement will be a "huge relief" to those who had been stuck in transaction bottlenecks, saving them thousands of pounds.

Introduced last July, the stamp duty holiday had been due to end on March 31, but it will remain until the end of June.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the Government will maintain the temporary increase in the "nil rate" stamp duty band at £500,000 in England and Northern Ireland until June 30.

From July 1, the nil rate band will reduce to £250,000, until September 30. It will then return to its "normal" threshold of £125,000 from October 1.

Rightmove said an additional 300,000 property transactions in England could get through by the end of June and buyers could save £1.75 billion in total.

It also estimated 45% of transactions in England will still be exempt from stamp duty in the tapering period. The property website said that within half an hour of Mr Sunak's announcement, use of its mortgage calculator jumped by 85% and overall traffic to Rightmove rose by 16%.