Last updated on July 12th, 2020 at 05:31 pm

In his summer statement today, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, announced that from today no stamp duty will be payable by someone buying their main home up to the value of £500,000.

At present, properties purchased up to the value of £125,000 are exempt from stamp duty land tax.  Stamp duty is then payable by the purchaser at anything above that.  For properties up to the value of £250,000, stamp duty is payable at 2%, then 5% for properties up to £975,000, 10% up to £1.5 million and 12% above that.  Stamp duty is never paid on the first £125,000 of the purchase price. If you are buying a second property that is not your main home, including if you are buying to let, you will still have to pay stamp duty at the enhanced rate, which is 3% above the standard rate.  So, on properties up to the value of £500,000 the stamp duty payable will be 3%, then 8% up to £925,000, 13% up to £1.5 million and 15% above that.  Find out more here.

First-time buyers in England and Northern Ireland currently enjoy higher exemptions, with no stamp duty payable on properties purchased up to the value of £300,000 and then 5% on anything between £300,000 and £500,000.  There is no first-time buyer stamp duty relief on properties purchased over the value of £500,000.  Rishi Sunak’s announcement means that first-time buyers can now look to buy property up to the value of £500,000 without having to worry about paying stamp duty.

The government hopes that the increase in the stamp duty threshold will get the housing market on the move more quickly and help to get the economy get back on its feet following the COVID-19 restrictions.

Caroline Murray, partner and head of Graysons’ property team says:

“Stamp duty is a major, and often worrying, expense for buyers.  The move is excellent news for buyers and sellers.  In the knowledge that there will be more interest, sellers can take advantage of the upcoming cut in stamp duty by getting their property on the market so that buyers are able to complete their purchases within the holiday period.”

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Author: Caroline Murray, partner and head of Graysons’ property team.