"Stamp duty change expected to spark homebuying rush"
"At the moment, buyers of homes worth less than £250,000 don't pay stamp duty. This was doubled from £125,000 under Liz Truss's mini-Budget in September 2022. The threshold is £425,000 for those buying their first property. This was raised from £300,000 as part of the mini-Budget"
"These higher thresholds will end in March 2025, when they are expected to revert to previous levels.
- £0-£250,000 (£425,000 for first-time buyers) = 0%
- £250,001-£925,000 = 5%
- £925,001-£1.5m = 10%
- £1.5m+ = 12%"
"The Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced an increase in the amount of stamp duty
paid by second-home buyers, landlords and companies.
The higher rate paid on additional properties will rise from 3% to 5% from 31 October.
There had been speculation the the government might cancel a planned cut in residential stamp duty thresholds in March 2025, but it has not done so."
"Home sales will "jump" at the beginning of next year as people try to buy before the rise in stamp duty, one of the UK's biggest lenders has predicted.
From March 2025,
changes introduced in Wednesday's Budget mean many will pay the tax when they would not have done previously.
Nationwide said this would affect one fifth of first-time buyers.
However, the impact of these changes is not expected to be as big as previous ones because high interest rates are still putting off buyers."
"He added that the changes, which only apply to England and Northern Ireland, had been expected, meaning they will likely have less effect than changes in 2020 and 2016"
