What are the stamp duty rules now
When you buy a house in England and Northern Ireland, one of the key costs to consider is Stamp Duty. On 1st April 2025, the stamp duty rules changed and in this article we look at what are the stamp duty rules now and how this might impact you if you’re looking to buy a home.
What is stamp duty and who needs to pay it?
What are the stamp duty rules now
You have to consider Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) if you buy a property or land over a certain price in England and Northern Ireland. This includes: if you buy a freehold property, a leasehold property and buy a shared ownership property you will need to pay stamp duty.
How much you pay in stamp duty depends on how much you pay for the property. It will also be impacted by whether you are buying the property to live in (as a residential home). And if this is a single property purchase or if you own any other properties.
To see how much stamp duty you would pay on a property, you can use the Governments online calculator: https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#!/intro.
How much is stamp duty now for a single property purchase?
If you are buying a single, residential home in England and Northern Ireland, below is are the rates that you will pay. You will pay different rates if you own another home, if this is a buy to let purchase or if you’re a First Time Buyer.
- £0-£125,000 = 0%
- £125,001-£250,000 = 2%
- £250,001-£925,000 = 5%
- £925,001-£1.5m = 10%
- Over £1.5m = 12%
When considering your total property purchase budget, you will need to consider this amount as it is generally payable 14 days after you exchange contracts.
How much is stamp duty if you’re buying your first home
You can claim a discount if the property you buy is your first home. Both you and whoever you are buying the home with both need to be First Time Buyers.
You’ll pay:
- no Stamp Duty up to £300,000 purchase prices
- 5% Stamp Duty on the portion from £300,001 to £500,000
If the price is over £500,000, you will need to follow the Stamp Duy rules for people who’ve bought a home before.
If you are buying a Shared Ownership property
You can choose to either:
- make a one off payment based on the current market value of the property
- pay SDLT in stages
How does Stamp duty work for BTL and second homes
Generally, if you’re buying a second home you would have to pay 5% on top of the standard SDLT rates.
However, Stamp Duty is charged at 17% on residential properties costing more than £500,000 if bought by some specific corporate bodies, for example:
- companies
- partnerships where one or more of the partners is a company
- collective investment schemes
It may be prudent to speak to a specialist tax adviser if you have a more complicated purchase.
If you are thinking about purchasing a property and have any questions after reading this article on what are the stamp duty rules now why not get in touch? We have contacts across the market, including specialist tax advisers to help you with your purchase. We also have knowledge of all the Government schemes designed to give you a helping hand.
Searching the market yourself can be time consuming. But with our help, we can search thousands of mortgages, including exclusive deals and lenders that you wouldn’t otherwise have access to. We have regular contact with a wide range of lenders, some of whom you may not even know exist! With our help, you won’t have to search or contact each individual lender in order to compare the mortgage terms and rates; we’ll do all that for you.
If you are interested in having a no obligation chat about your mortgage, why not get in touch? We don’t charge anything up front, so by speaking to us, you are under no obligation. We are based in Salisbury, Wiltshire, but we can help you no matter where you live in the UK.
Simply call us on 01722 322683 or complete a contact us form on our website and tell us when it would be best to get back in touch with you.