Stamp Duty Dropped back

The stamp duty threshold dropped back to £125,000 on 1 January, prompting a rush on mortgage approvals and completed home sales in the final months of 2009.
The government concession, which had temporarily pushed the threshold up to £175,000 for just over a year, had been aimed at halting the rapid slump in the property market.
This should not put new buyers off though more and more lenders are offering attractive products with a lower deposit required for a first property. The Bank of England has shown no signs of increasing rates in the near term,so this will help existing and new buyers to keep mortgage costs low.
However be prepared to face tougher scrutiny by lenders and make sure your credit file is up to date.Having a bad credit file will make it more difficult for banks and building societies to lend.It is advisable to start monitoring your file for a period of 6 months before starting to apply, this will give the credit agencies time to correct any mistakes or missing information that they have on you. eg could be an old flat mate gone bankrupt that might show as a financial alias to you.