The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has given the UK Property market a well needed boost following the recent lockdown easing. He has lifted the threshold at which stamp duty kicks in from £125,000 to £500,000 in England and Northern Ireland. The new threshold took effect last Wednesday and will run until 31 March 2021.
What it means for Residential buyers is that if they buy a property up to the value of £500,000 they will be NO STAMP DUTY payable. Buy To Let mortgage customers and second homeowners must continue to pay a 3% stamp duty surcharge on purchases. They will pay no further duty on the first £500,000 of the property’s value.
The Finance Secretary for Scotland Kate Forbes then followed suit by cutting the Land and Buildings Transition Tax (LBTT). Scotland’s changes come into effect on Wednesday 15th July 2020 and will run until 31 March 2021. The changes mean that in Scotland the threshold for paying LBTT will be £250000. The move means 8 out of 10 house sales in Scotland will be exempt from paying tax and home movers buying a house costing over £250000 will save £2100 on their purchase.