With the property market gearing up for today’s Spring Statement, nine in 10 buyers could be hit by the upcoming Stamp Duty shake-up, research from Twenty7tec has revealed.
The findings revealed that a 2% Stamp Duty rate on homes over £125,000 is set to affect nearly every active buyer in the market.
With over 90% of mortgage searches in the past 12 months relating to properties above the £125,000 threshold, millions of would-be buyers are set to endure even greater upfront costs.
In addition, 29.6% of all mortgage searches over the past 12 months were for homes in the £125,000 to £250,000 range – meaning nearly a third of would-be buyers would face Stamp Duty charges where they previously paid none.
Based on the average house valuation in this range of £188,604.25, this will result in average SDLT payments of £1272.09 where this has previously been tax exempt.
759,743 first-time buyer mortgage searches were for properties priced between £300,001 and £425,000 – a band currently exempt from SDLT, but which will face a 5% charge from 1st April 2025.
This group represents 19.53% of all first-time buyer searches in the past 12 months.
A further 168,402 searches were for properties priced between £500,001 and £625,000 – buyers who currently pay 5% only on the portion above £425,000, but are expected to pay 5% on the full value from April.
Twenty7tec said that that the proposed changes could lead to greater upfront costs, reduced affordability, and further pressure on first-time buyers – potentially slowing overall activity in the market.
