Tax down for cheaper houses
The chancellor scrapped stamp duty land tax on homes costing £250,000 or less for first-time buyers for the next 2 years.
But if you are selling your house, to buy another you will still pay stamp duty at 1% of the purchase price on the new home if it costs between £125,000 and £250,000.
The HMRC’s definition of a ‘first-time buyer’ looks strict, but it is hard to see how the HMRC is going to monitor effectively which buyers are truly new to the market. The Council of Mortgage Lenders appears to agree having warned that the concession “looks like a tax loophole waiting to happen”.
The new regime, which is hoped to put the dream of home ownership back within reach of thousands, does not address what many see as “the real problem” with the property market, which is that many first-time buyers, particularly those who cannot raise a large deposit, are still finding it hard to obtain a mortgage.
Prodromos Shakallis, property team