In September homebuyers paid £1.1bn in Stamp Duty, making it a total of £8.8bn so far this year, research from Coventry Building Society has revealed.
Coventry Building Society calculated how much homebuyers in each region of England would pay in Stamp Duty if the temporary thresholds are not extended in next week’s Budget.
Homebuyers currently pay Stamp Duty if their home costs most than £250,000.
After 31st March 2025 this will drop to £125,000 – taking the tax bill on an average priced home in England from £2,978 to £5,478.
First-time buyers currently pay Stamp Duty if their home costs more than £425,000, which is set to drop to £300,000 in March 2025.
Jonathan Stinton, head of intermediary relationships at Coventry Building Society, said: “Anyone looking to move home in the near future needs to pay close attention to the Chancellor next week.
“She might announce that the current Stamp Duty thresholds aren’t going to be extended, or she might silently let them topple off a cliff edge without giving them a mention – either way, if the rumours are true, there’s effectively going to be a tax hike for homebuyers.
“If she makes an announcement and reminds people of the deadline there’s a risk of market distortion, with people rushing to complete on properties before the end of March.
“If she stays silent there’s a risk that buyers don’t fully realise their tax bill is about to shoot up, so they don’t plan for the additional expense.”
He added: “It already feels like the tax hike most people have forgotten about.
“The deadline for these thresholds was given to us back in November 2022, but I think we all secretly hoped a long -term plan for Stamp Duty would be established in the meantime.
“Now it looks like we’ll still be waiting for real reform, and buyers will need to prepare themselves for the tax hike which is potentially coming.”
