0:04 AM, 22nd January 2025, About 4 hours ago
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There will be a big drop in the availability of stamp duty-free homes from April 1st when the current stamp duty relief reverts to previous thresholds, research reveals.
Yopa says that currently, a third of properties for sale in England offer the possibility of a stamp duty-free purchase for existing homeowners.
However, this figure is set to plummet to less than one in 10.
The chief executive of Yopa, Verona Frankish, said: “As it stands, both first-time and existing homebuyers currently have a great degree of choice when it comes to the proportion of homes listed for sale and the ability to purchase them without being hit by a hefty stamp duty tax bill.
“Unfortunately, this won’t be the case from 1st April, with every region of England seeing a significant reduction in stamp duty free property stock, although the impact will certainly be greater in some regions versus others, with London homebuyers set to be hit particularly hard.”
She added: “So, whilst this will mean that many homebuyers are forced to save even more to cover the cost of stamp duty, we’re also likely to see extremely high demand for the properties that remain under the reverted stamp duty thresholds.
“This means that those still hopeful of a stamp duty free purchase are likely to face fierce competition and this heightened demand will inevitably drive-up prices in these price thresholds.”
Yopa analysed current property listings across England to find the number of homes currently eligible for stamp duty-free purchases for both first-time buyers and existing homeowners.
It then assessed how this availability would change following the April 1 reversion of stamp duty relief thresholds to their previous levels.
Currently, first-time buyers enjoy stamp duty exemption on purchases up to £425,000, while existing homeowners pay no stamp duty on properties up to £250,000.
From April, these thresholds will revert to £300,000 and £125,000 respectively.
The analysis shows that 64% of current listings, or 253,287 homes, are priced at £425,000 or below, offering first-time buyers the opportunity for a stamp duty-free purchase.
However, this figure will drop to 44% after April 1, with only 173,547 homes priced at £300,000 or below.
This represents a drop of nearly 80,000 properties eligible for first-time buyer stamp duty exemption.
Yopa says the impact on existing homeowners will be even more severe.
Currently, 33% of listed homes are priced at £250,000 or below, allowing existing buyers to avoid stamp duty.
After April 1, this proportion will drastically fall to just 8%.
London will be particularly affected since there are 31% of listed homes offering stamp duty-free purchases but this will decline to just 13%.
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