Buyers have been boosted after the Chancellor extended the current stamp duty ‘holiday’ for three months.
Current stamp duty rules in England mean buyers pay no tax on the first £500,000 of a property’s purchase price – a potential saving of £15,000.*
Those rules will now remain in place until June 30.
Rishi Sunak announced the decision during today’s spring Budget – while also confirming a new exemption figure of £250,000 from June 30 through to the end of September. From October, though, stamp duty will revert to the rates last seen before the ‘holiday’ was announced in July 2020.*
That means buyers in England will pay:
|
Minimum purchase price |
Maximum purchase price |
Stamp duty rate |
|
£0 |
£125,000 |
0% |
|
£125,001 |
£250,000 |
2% |
|
£250,001 |
£925,000 |
5% |
|
£925,001 |
£1.5 million |
10% |
|
£1.5 million + |
12% |
As they were before the ‘holiday’, first-time buyers will be exempt from stamp duty on the first £300,000 of a property’s purchase price and landlords and buyers of second homes will continue to pay a 3% stamp duty surcharge.
There had been fears that a ‘cliff edge’ effect caused by a sudden change in rules would see many transactions fall through, or buyers left with large stamp duty bills if they were unable to complete before the March 31 deadline.
The market is expected to remain strong throughout the summer and now that the ‘holiday’ has been extended, even more homeowners will benefit from the savings on offer.
The Chancellor, meanwhile, confirmed that 95 per cent mortgage loans guaranteed by the government would be available from next month, on the purchase of properties up to the value of £600,000.
*Higher rates apply to additional properties.
