So at the end of this week the new stamp duty charge will be introduced of 3% on top of standard levels if you are buying a second property.
Although the changes went through a consultation period not many changes came out of this apart from the maybe unexpected change of extending the crossover period (giving you time to dispose of an old property while still being able to reclaim the extra stamp duty) from 18 to 36 months.
One other change was to include landlords with bigger portfolios of properties in the changes as well.
Some conveyancers have been working over the Easter weekend reportedly but others have not done so and in fact some vendors/buyers have said that no extra effort appears to be being made by their solicitors to get things done before the cut off date of 31 March 2016.
So it seems likely that some people may be caught up unexpectedly in the trap of the extra stamp duty and may have to stump up the extra cash. Obviously those on a tight timescale will be checking in regularly with their solicitor.
However, if purchasing the property for the long term some buyers may be philosophical if there is not much likelihood of the transaction going through before the 1 April deadline.