Good-bye stamp duty

First-time buyers purchasing a home of up to £300,000 won’t have to pay stamp duty anymore!

The change comes with immediate effect, so if you’re a first-time buyer purchasing a house worth £300,000 you will now save £5,000 in stamp duty.

Quick summary of the changes:

If you buy a first home which costs more than £500,000 then there’s no change in the stamp duty you pay. Click here to see previous stamp duty rates.

The average house price for a first-time buyer is £207,693 according to the latest Halifax First Time Buyer Review. So, this latest change should mean that 80% of first-time buyers will pay no stamp duty at all, not a bad result!

The change will apply in England and Northern Ireland, and in Wales up until the end of March. The Scottish government has yet to declare if they will follow suit.

Existing homeowners will also benefit as it’s expected that house prices will rise by 0.3% as a result of the change*.

Use gov.uk stamp duty calculator to see how much stamp duty you will have to pay.

*statistics provided by The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)