In the budget of the 22nd November 2017, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that stamp duty would be immediately abolished for first-time buyers of a home up to the value of £300,000.
“The Chancellor estimated that 80% of first-time buyers would not pay any stamp duty at all, which obviously is a massive help for people climbing the first rung of the property ownership ladder,” says Dawn Hilditch, Consultant Solicitor at Kirkham Legal, “as this could save them thousands in tax as under the pre 22nd November rules only the first £125,000 was tax free, with anything over £125,001, to £250,000 being charged at 2% stamp duty. If, for example, a first time buyer bought a house for £200,000, then under the new rules no stamp duty would be payable, whereas under the old rules tax would have been payable at £1500”.
If the purchase is for more than £300,001, then tax is payable at the rate of 5% on the portion from £300,001 to £500,000.
Dawn further comments, “We actually had a couple of clients who were close to completing their first purchases at the time of the budget and luckily for them completion took place soon after, saving them a lot of money. Thankfully we didn’t have any such clients who completed just before, as rumours were rife that changes in the stamp duty rules were imminent”.
Dawn is a Consultant Solicitor at Kirkham Legal, Royton, Oldham and can be contacted on 0161 393 2297.
Our Practice Licence Number is 11250.
