HMRC has today issued its latest quarterly stamp duty figures showing:
• 288,300 first-time buyers have saved a total of £680m in stamp duty
• Average first-time buyer saved £2,360 in tax
Laura Suter, personal finance analyst at investment platform AJ Bell, comments:
“A total of 288,300 first-time buyers have saved £680m in stamp duty since the Government’s relief was launched in November 2017. The tax break means that those who buy a first home worth £300,000 or less pay no stamp duty, while those buying a property worth up to £500,000 pay a reduced rate.
“The average first-time buyer saved around £2,360 in stamp duty, compared to the maximum saving of £5,000, but this has certainly boosted some onto the property ladder sooner than they would have been able to previously. First-time buyers can couple this tax break with the £1,000 a year Government bonus from the Lifetime ISA and other initiatives such as Help to Buy or shared ownership, in order to improve their chances of getting on the ladder.
“All these measures are making it easier for younger people to buy a property for the first time. However, it doesn’t detract from the fact that you still need an eye-wateringly large deposit and a sizeable salary to be able to buy in certain areas of the UK, which proves too high a hurdle for many young people.”
