Stamp duty tax: how much do homebuyers have to pay now?

The Autumn Budget, delivered by Chancellor Rachel Reeves connected 30 October 2024, revealed that the stamp work surcharge connected 2nd homes and buy-to-let properties would beryllium expanding to 5 per cent from the adjacent day.

Labour had been urged to see freezing stamp work taxation astatine existent discounted rates but Ms Reeves decided against this arsenic portion of her plan to rise £40bn successful taxation hikes.

Stamp work thresholds — the levels astatine which buyers commencement to wage the spot acquisition taxation — volition driblet successful outpouring 2025, portion 2nd location purchases incurred the new, higher surcharge from 31 October 2024.

“Second location buyers are already responding to past year’s Budget which allowed councils to complaint treble assembly taxation for 2nd homes,” said Richard Donnell, Head of Research astatine Zoopla.

“This is resulting successful a higher level of selling by 2nd location owners. In areas with supra mean 2nd homes we person seen 4 times much homes travel to the market.”

Stamp work cuts introduced successful Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget successful September 2022 were intended arsenic a imperishable measurement astatine the clip but, successful the Autumn Budget conscionable 2 months later, Jeremy Hunt announced that the spot taxation interruption would beryllium a agelong vacation instead.

On 1 April 2025, therefore, stamp work thresholds volition revert to little levels.

Homebuyers successful the astir costly areas of England and Northern Ireland — successful peculiar London and the South East — volition beryllium astir impacted by the lowering of thresholds owed to precocious mean spot prices. London first-time buyers, for instance, volition wage an other £6,250 successful stamp work tax connected a £425,000 home.

In 2022, the threshold astatine which buyers started to wage stamp work taxation was raised from £125,000 to £250,000. This means that for properties priced beneath £250,000, nary stamp work taxation is presently payable, equating to a redeeming of up to £2,500 for location movers.

For first-time buyers, the threshold was accrued from £300,000 to £450,000 – truthful agelong arsenic the full property terms is beneath £625,000. This means a taxation redeeming of up to £11,250.

These higher thresholds are owed to past until 31 March 2025.

First-time buyers are exempt up to £425,000 arsenic agelong arsenic the full spot terms is beneath £625,000.

First-time buyers volition beryllium exempt from stamp work up to £300,000 arsenic agelong arsenic the full spot terms is nary much than £500,000.

Anyone buying an further spot to their main residence indispensable wage a 5 per cent surcharge from 31 October 2024, portion non-UK residents volition proceed to wage a 2 per cent surcharge.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) indispensable beryllium paid erstwhile buying spot oregon onshore implicit a definite terms successful England and Northern Ireland. In Scotland buyers wage Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), portion successful Wales buyers wage Land Transaction Tax (LTT).

You person 14 days to wage stamp work taxation from the day of completion. If you miss this deadline, you could look a good oregon beryllium charged involvement connected taxation owed.

You wage the taxation erstwhile you buy:

Would-be location buyers and movers volition consciousness the effects of stamp work changes astir keenly aft March erstwhile existent discounts extremity and the threshold astatine which stamp work becomes payable drops.

Home buyers successful the astir costly regions – successful peculiar London and the South East — volition beryllium astir impacted owed to precocious mean spot prices and a shortage of first-time purchaser homes priced beneath the precocious bounds of £500,000.

During the pandemic, past Chancellor Rishi Sunak introduced a stamp work holiday to stimulate the spot market. Waiving the spot acquisition taxation connected the archetypal £500,000 of a transaction gave each location buyers a discount of up to £15,000.

The interruption lasted for astir a twelvemonth betwixt July 2020 and June 2021, erstwhile the payment started to taper off. Property transactions boomed but the taxation interruption was besides blamed for inflating location prices.