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It's good news for those who have been waiting to move house but have been held up due to the coronavirus pandemic and the restrictions placed on us all. In a statement to Parliament last week, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that we are moving into Phase 2 of the Scottish Government’s route map to ease Coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions, meaning that restrictions on house moves will be relaxed on 29th June.

The majority of house moves have been put on hold during lockdown whilst the message in Scotland is still to ‘Stay At Home’. This has put increased pressure on those in the midst of moving, especially those who have ended up with two properties because one has not been able to be sold due to the current restrictions.  If you own two properties on the date of settlement and you are not replacing your main residence, a tax called Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) is payable. ADS, which is currently charged at 4% of the whole purchase price, applies to all transactions involving the purchase of an additional residential dwelling over £40,000, including buy to let investments and second homes.

The coronavirus pandemic has led to wide-ranging changes across the country and the property industry is facing it’s own particular challenges. The message in Scotland is still to “Stay At Home’ and many landlords are no doubt struggling with the impact this is having. Thousands of businesses will be working with limited capacity and limited income, causing problems with their cash flow, which will in turn impact on the ability to pay rent at the same rate. Likewise, with 6.3 million people temporarily laid off by 800,000 companies and nearly a quarter of British employees furloughed in the last fortnight, according to HMRC, domestic rent will be a struggle for many.

These are testing times for us all, especially for those who are in the process of buying or selling a property. Moving home is stressful at the best of times – and even more so now in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.