Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's ‘mini-budget’ on 23rd September announced permanent stamp duty cuts for some home-buyers.
Stamp duty is a tax payable to the government when you buy a home, or land, priced above a certain threshold in England or Northern Ireland.
Previously, you would pay stamp duty tax on a home, or the portion of a home, priced between £125,001 and £250,000. Following today’s announcement, no stamp duty is payable below the price threshold of £250,000.
This means a third of all homes currently for sale (33%) are now completely exempt from stamp duty in England, compared to 7% when the threshold was £125,000.
Before the mini-budget announcement, first-time buyers paid no stamp duty on the first £300,000 of a home purchase. This has now been raised to £425,000. And if the home you’re buying is priced below £625,000, you’ll still pay no stamp duty on the portion of the property priced below £425,000, and 5% on the portion priced above this. This is an increase of £125,000 on the previous price cap of £500,000.
These changes reduce stamp duty bills across the board for all home-movers by up to £2,500, and by up to £11,250 for first-time buyers.
And two thirds of homes (66%) in England are now exempt from stamp duty for first-time buyers.
What are the stamp duty rates now?
What were the stamp duty rates in England and Northern Ireland before today?
No stamp duty was payable on homes, or the portion of a home, priced at or below £125,000. First-time buyers didn’t pay any stamp duty tax on homes priced below £300,000.
source: rightmove