The Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has delivered his 2017 Autumn Budget and announced stamp duty land tax relief for first-time buyers.

Effective immediately, stamp duty land tax will be abolished for first-time purchases up to £300,000 and the existing rate of 5% will apply between £300,000 and £500,000. The relief will not apply to properties above £500,000.

In general, first-time buyers are more cash constrained than other buyers and stamp duty land tax (stamp duty) can represent an additional cash burden on top of a deposit and other purchase fees.

The government expect that this will mean that 95% of first-time buyers who pay stamp duty will benefit, including almost 80% in London.  They estimate that over the next five years, this relief will help over a million first-time buyers get onto the housing ladder.

How this will work in practice?
Solicitors acting for first-time buyers, who generally complete the stamp duty return, will have to enter a code on their stamp duty return indicating that they are first-time buyers, and calculate the stamp duty due according to the new rates.
The definition of a first-time buyer for this relief is the same as for previous reliefs. A first-time buyer is someone who has never owned freehold or leasehold interest in a dwelling before and who is purchasing their only or main residence. Residential property anywhere in the world is counted when determining whether someone is a first-time buyer, also where there there are joint purchasers all of the purchasers would need to be first-time buyers.

Are you a first time buyer and looking to purchase your first property.

Give Bluebell a call today and we can guide you through the process.

Your Expert Mortgage Advisers 01473 213312