Stamp duty: first-time buyers in four London boroughs to face the biggest increases

First-time buyers successful Haringey, Hackney, Richmond upon Thames and Wandsworth are acceptable to look the biggest increases successful stamp duty pursuing past week’s Budget, figures show.

Analysis of information collected by owe advisor Alexander Hall highlights that the mean first-time purchaser successful these 4 boroughs volition wage £11,250 much successful stamp work from 31 March adjacent year, whereas those successful Barking and Dagenham, London’s astir affordable borough, volition look the smallest difference, astatine £876.

Currently, stamp work alleviation for first-time buyers is applied to purchases of archetypal homes up to the worth of £650,000. But from April 2025 onwards, this volition driblet to £500,000.

In Haringey, Hackney, Richmond upon Thames and Wandsworth, the mean archetypal location costs implicit £500,000, meaning that astir first-time buyers successful these areas volition not suffice for immoderate stamp work alleviation and volition wage the aforesaid arsenic those who person purchased a location before.

In these 4 boroughs, the mean first-time purchaser is acceptable to look a stamp work summation of £11,250. At present, the mean stamp work outgo crossed these boroughs is £5,991. According to the information collected by Alexander Hall, this volition emergence to an mean of £17,241.

First-time buyers successful different boroughs tin besides expect to wage importantly much successful stamp duty. In Lambeth, Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Merton, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest, stamp work volition emergence by £6,250 connected the mean archetypal spot acquisition (£1,903 to £8,153 connected average).

And successful areas similar Redbridge, Newham and Greenwich, for example, first-time buyers volition spell from paying nary stamp work to £5,998, £5,809 and £5,605 respectively.

Those buying successful Barking and Dagenham, however, are forecast to spot the smallest difference, paying conscionable £876 more. This is due to the fact that the borough is besides London’s cheapest for first-time buyers, with the mean spot costing £317,528.

The capital’s astir costly boroughs —Kensington and Chelsea, Camden, Islington and Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham and the City of London— volition besides spot a smaller summation of £2,500.

In these six boroughs, the mean terms of a archetypal location already exceeds the existent stamp work alleviation bounds of £625,000, meaning that the little £500,000 threshold for alleviation volition marque small quality to buyers who were already paying higher stamp duty. In Kensington and Chelsea, for example, wherever a archetypal location costs £1,006,572, buyers are already paying £41,925 successful stamp duty.

In immoderate case, the changes to stamp work volition person a disproportionate interaction connected first-time buyers successful London, wherever location prices are higher. In 202 section authorities crossed England —68 per cent— the mean terms of a archetypal location is beneath £300,000, meaning that astir first-time buyers volition inactive payment from a stamp duty-free purchase. In London, the median summation is £4,029.

“Homebuyers crossed the federation volition person been hoping for an hold to stamp work alleviation thresholds but unluckily this wasn’t to beryllium the case. Many —particularly first-time buyers— volition present beryllium anxious to marque their determination earlier the March 31st deadline adjacent year,” said Steve Anderson, nationalist franchise manager astatine property bureau Yopa.

“However, first-time buyers should remainder assured that, mostly speaking, a precocious proportionality of spot marketplace banal volition stay beneath the £300,000 threshold and truthful they volition proceed to payment from a stamp work escaped purchase.

“This accidental of a stamp work escaped acquisition does, of course, disagree depending connected wherever you unrecorded successful the state and it’s those looking to get a ft connected the London spot ladder who are apt to look the largest summation successful the outgo of buying.”