On 31 March generous stamp duty discounts for first time buyers introduced by then Chancellor Philip Hammond in November 2017 to help thousands of young people gain a foothold on the property ladder will come to an end.
Graham Sellar, head of Santander’s intermediary channel, recalls that towards the end of a previous stamp duty holiday during the pandemic, the Government pushed the deadline from the end of March to the end of June, and to September for first timers, to give them time to get their deals over the line.
That means the stamp duty bill on a typical £500,000 London property completing today is a relatively modest £3,750 for first timers.
For the last eight years bona fide first time buyers have paid no stamp duty at all on any properties priced at less than £425,000.
So for a first time buyer paying £600,000 the stamp duty bill for a purchase completed on 31 March is £8,750.
