When asked ‘is it right for Rishi Sunak to extend the stamp duty holiday?’ the brokers voted 3:1 in favour of the extension (73.9%).

It comes as conveyancing groups wrote to the chancellor Rishi Sunak asking him to take a different approach to the ending of the tax break, which is due to finish on 31 March.

They have proposed a solution where any transaction on which a conveyancing lawyer has been formally instructed before 28 February should quality for the exemption provided the purchase completes within 12 months.

The plea, made by the Society of Licensed Conveyancers, Bold Legal Group and The Conveyancing Association, is aimed at ‘restoring the property market to a sense of normality’ and having a ‘calming’ effect.

They are concerned the ‘holiday’ has created an unsustainable stimulus on the market and placed much stress on lawyers, lenders, buyers, local authority staff and others involved in the process.

Analysis by Twenty7Tech shows the stamp duty holiday has had a powerful influence with mortgages searches up by mortgage searches up by 43.78%, residential searches increased by 47.93% between 8 July 2020 and 24 February 2021 while buy-to-let searches rose by 26.87%.

The tech provider’s data also showed purchase documents went up 56.61% but remortgage documents were down 9.63%.

James Tucker, founder and CEO of Twenty7Tec said clearly there was a big debate around whether or not it should be extended despite its perceived success.

“Our broker survey showed an overwhelming enthusiasm for a stamp duty holiday extension,” he said.

“There’s been an assumption that everyone is happy to extend the stamp duty holiday. However, whilst it has meant an increased level of demand at many points across the property buying spectrum, it is not universally welcomed.

“Conveyancers have stated this week that many of them are happy to see it end at the end of March as they are, frankly, exhausted and trying to catch up with their commitments.

“Some solicitors have suggested that an extension should only apply to existing offers – though that feels hard to quantify and monitor.

“Lenders have been balancing their risk for almost a year now and seem to be finally coming round to products offering over 90%LTV – the stamp duty holiday extension will quite likely fuel further demand for these products.

“At a time when lenders risk appetites are starting to slowly return, could the stamp duty extension delay many lenders from returning more mortgage products in the short term, while they cope with yet further influx and heightened demand?