Yorkshire Building Society announces new mortgage product

Yorkshire Building Society has rolled out a new mortgage offering to help buyers cope with the forthcoming rise in stamp duty.

The latest deal provides homeowners with a two-year, fixed-rate loan at 3.89 per cent and one per cent cash back on mortgages of up to £250,000.

On January 1st 2010 the stamp duty holiday, which currently means that properties valued at between £125,000 and £175,000 are exempt from the tax, will end.

The government introduced the tax break in September 2008 to help the struggling property market deal with the fall-out of the global financial crisis.

Chief executive of the building society Iain Cornish criticised the chancellor for ignoring calls from the industry to extend the holiday, describing his decision as "disappointing".

He said: "We understand how difficult it is for people to find extra cash to fund the cost of moving home and have therefore designed this mortgage to help with these costs."

Mr Cornish added that almost 90 per cent of the mortgages provided by his company are for properties valued at less than £250,000.