More than 121,000 first-time buyers have had a boost from the Stamp Duty exemption in the first seven months of the relief, HMRC figures show.
Since November 2017, first-time buyers purchasing homes worth under £500,000 pay no Stamp Duty on the first £300,000.
New government data shows 121,500 first-time buyers have saved a total of £284m thanks to the cut, with 52,400 of the transactions taking place in the second quarter of 2018.
Over the next five years it is estimated that more than 1m will get on the ladder thanks to the relief, the Treasury said.
Mel Stride, financial secretary to the Treasury, said: “Once again, we can see that our cut to Stamp Duty for first-time buyers is helping to make the dream of home ownership a reality for a new generation – exactly as we intended.”
Meanwhile, the number of residential property transactions liable for Stamp Duty increased to 163,400 between the second and third quarter of 2018.
This was up 4% on the first quarter of 2018 but down 28.6% on the end of 2017, although this period includes months where first-time buyers will have paid the full rate of Stamp Duty.
Stamp Duty residential receipts increased by 4% to £1.95bn between the first and second quarter of 2018, but are down by 15% annually.
Of the 163,400 transactions, 54,500 were for additional properties, the lowest number since the first three months of the extra Stamp Duty charge in 2016.
This also put receipts for additional property purchases at their quarterly level since the second quarter of 2016 at £896m, down 9.3% annually.
The figures also show there were 6,200 additional dwellings refunds totalling £80m during the second quarter.
Comments (6)
The “saving” equates to £2337 per transaction – which, if it were (as the report suggests) only on purchases of between £300000 and £50000 would mean that the average purchase was at a price of £346,740.
Highly unlikely, I would suggest, that over 120000 sales have taken place in only a few months at such heady figures to First Time Buyers – but I look forward to be proved wrong…
Go on… complete the circuit – explain what you can possibly ‘Dislike’ about that comment.
Although I gave up the will to live trying to dissect the report, unless I am mistaken, it does not state what percentage of the quoted 121500 FTB purchases would not have been liable for SDLT in any event – ie under £125000.
Perhaps Mr Shoffman would like to ask the question of HMRC on behalf of the EYE readership…?
How many first time buyers can afford to pay over £300k for a property anyway? What was wrong with the £125k 1%, £250k 3% version?
Stamp Duty is something else that buyers need to save for as well as the deposit and solicitors etc. Making it too high is just going to stop people being able to move.
Rather hidden in this press release is the more relevant aspect, that Stamp Duty residential receipts are down by 15% annually. Whilst many may rightly seek to blame Brexit, the other issue dissuading buyers and sellers alike is the impact of the Stamp Duty changes.
Whilst successive Conservative governments have espoused the cause of home ownership, including the right to buy legislation (obviously good news to agents) the present impact of Stamp Duty, particularly on the London market, rental sector and second home market, has been disastrous. It also adversely affects the free movement of labour within our country, that may become crucial post-Brexit whatever the deal/no deal outcome, and people consequently stay longer in their homes, reducing transaction volume for us as agents, and limiting supply to new entrants to the housing market.
I am sure our industry leaders are making this point at government level, but more effort, I fear, needs to be made. The government still has a strong need now to improve tax receipts, and by encouraging more transactions by reducing the higher Stamp Duty levels and reforming its impact on second home transactions (allowing those taxes to be applied locally) and Buy to Let transactions may just repair some of the damage to its foot that it has so effectively shot.
Government haven’t heard of the Laffer Curve. which in the case of SDLT is well over the peak.
Not only that this measure is stoking demand, and will result in even higher prices nullifying the effect for FTBs.