For those homebuyers facing higher mortgages, changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), or stamp duty, announced in September’s mini-Budget will ease some of the pain.
For homebuyers, from 23 September the level at which people start paying stamp duty land tax was raised from £125,000 to £250,000.
For first-time buyers in England and Northern Ireland, they will not pay any stamp duty on properties up to £425,000 – the previous threshold was £300,000.
The maximum value of a property on which first-time buyers can claim relief also increased from £500,000 to £625,000.
The new SDLT rates when purchasing residential property are now:
Property price SDLT rate
Where surcharges apply
For those who are purchasing a second property or further properties, an extra three per cent surcharge applies.
Anyone buying an additional residential property for £40,000 or m-ore has to pay the surcharge, whether it’s a holiday home or a buy-to-let.
The surcharge is added to each rate of SDLT and, therefore, increases for more expensive properties.
For example:
Property value SDLT rate
For landlords considering multi-property purchases, they can make SDLT savings by buying more lower priced properties with a lower stamp duty rate, rather than say a property above £1.5 million, where higher charges apply.
SDLT is a devolved issue for Scotland and Wales where separate rules apply.
Need help or advice with SDLT and other tax matters? Contact our team today.
