Skipton will launch a cashback product range for homebuyers who fail to complete a house purchase before the upcoming stamp duty threshold deadline.  

The five-year fixed-rate loans, which go live on Monday (24 March), come with up to 1.5% cashback paid directly into a borrower’s bank account 15 days following completion.  

The offer is available at 60% loan to value, 75% LTV, 85% LTV, 90% LTV and 95% LTV. 

The society, part of the Skipton Group, will also guarantee to complete all submitted cases where conveyancers have sent certificates of title by 25 March, ahead of the cut-off date on 1 April. 

It points out that it has seen a 54% jump in customers trying to complete house purchases in March compared to a year ago. 

Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group — which includes Halifax and Bank of Scotland — have offered similar stamp duty completion pledges. 

On 1 April, the stamp duty rate threshold will fall to £125,000 from £250,000 for home movers, and to £300,000 from £425,000 for first-time buyers.   

The proportion of local authority areas in England where the average FTB home falls in scope of stamp duty will almost quadruple overnight from 8.4% to 32% next month, according to Skipton Group research. 

The reforms will add £6,250 to the cost of buying a first home worth £425,000. 

The firm reiterated its call on the government “to reconsider stamp duty threshold for FTBs as acute affordability challenges persist”. 

Skipton Building Society chief executive of home financing Charlotte Harrison says: “Our research shows that the country has a chronic lack of home affordability and is about to get even worse. 

“The upcoming stamp duty reforms will further hurt FTBs and Skipton Group has been actively urging the government to maintain the current nil rate stamp duty threshold of £425,000 for people buying their first home.”