Stamp Duty changes

publication date: Mar 25, 2010

Stamp duty has been cut for the next two years for house purchases costing below £250,000 for first time buyers – a measure aimed at stimulating the housing market at the lower end.  Over this threshold, stamp duty of 3% is applied to the full price (rendering a price of around £257,000 highly unlikely!).

Counterbalancing this measure, Robin Hood style, is the increase in stamp duty to 5% for houses costing in excess of £1,000,000.  

A hidden complexity of the measure for first time buyers will be defining who they actually are.  A divorced couple each buying their first house?  Someone who owned a house 20 years ago?