Homebuyers in the UK are shouldering a significant financial burden, with an average Stamp Duty bill of £9,661 in the first half of 2023, reveals Coventry Building Society’s analysis.
The figure marks a decrease from the same period last year, when the average was £10,984, but it is still significantly higher than the 2019 average of £7,778. In total, homebuyers have paid £5.4bn in property tax since the beginning of this year.
Introduced last September, new Stamp Duty thresholds provided some respite for homebuyers. However, these thresholds are only in place until 31st March 2025. If no changes occur, the Stamp Duty thresholds will revert to those set in 2014, when the average bill was £6,235.
The previous year, 2022, saw a record-breaking average Stamp Duty bill of £11,154, with homebuyers collectively paying an astonishing £16.2bn in property tax.
Jonathan Stinton, head of intermediary relationships at Coventry Building Society, said: “What was once an inconvenient hurdle has rapidly grown into a barrier people could really struggle to get around. Homebuyers are having to find, on average, over £4,000 more to clear the Stamp Duty bill on their home than they did ten years ago – that rate of increase just isn’t sustainable.”
He further added: “The average bill might have dropped from the record-breaking heights of last year, but it’s still painfully high – and this is while buyers still have the benefits of the temporary thresholds. In less than two years that relief will drop off a cliff, and homebuyers’ tax bills will shoot up again – unless a long-term plan is established now.”
Stinton also advocated for a more innovative approach to the issue. He said: “Changing the thresholds has always been the go-to solution, but a more innovative approach designed to help people at all stages of homeownership is what’s really needed. The current regime only offers limited one-way support for those moving up the ladder, but there’s a lack of support for downsizers which could be keeping people from moving to a property which is right for them.”
