CPS Homes

Exemption on first-time buyer stamp duty ends

The temporary exemption that meant first-time buyers were exempt from paying stamp duty on homes costing under £250,000 has ended. When announcing the decision in his Autumn Statement, Chancellor George Osborne said that the policy had failed to get people on the property ladder and was “ineffective”.

The exemption ended on 23rd March 2012, meaning that any buyer completing on a sale after this date will now have to pay stamp duty. If exchange of contracts has taken place but completion did not occur by 23rd March 2012, stamp duty is still applicable.

Now, should you purchase either a freehold or leasehold property and the purchase price is more than £125,000, you pay stamp duty of between 1% and 5% of the whole of the purchase price.

Our table below shows the stamp duty applicable on each purchase;

- 0% payable on properties to £125,000

- 1% Stamp Duty to be paid for purchases from £125,000 up to £250,000

- 3% for £250,000 up to £500,000

- 4% for properties over £500,000

- 5% for residential properties over £1,000,000

The exemption represented a valuable saving for cash strapped buyers, so the decision to scrap it will have provided little comfort to buyers saving and intending to purchase their first home in 2012.

31 March 2012

The information contained within this article was correct at the date of publishing and is not guaranteed to remain correct in the present day.

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