Autumn Budget 2024. Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) changes

There was the expected, and the unexpected, but what will be the effect of these changes?

People, like me, buying and/or selling their home or other property will have been watching the budget last week for announcements to any further changes to the rate of this tax that applies as a transfer tax when you buy land or property.

SDLT has been changed multiple times in recent budgets both as a tactic to boost the property market and as a tool to enhance tax cash collection on transactions as it can be a valuable tax.

SDLT was not one of those excluded from change in the Labour manifesto, so we all knew it would suffer from some change.

There are principally 3 changes that we need to therefore be aware of:-

• First time buyers – reduction in the 0% threshold introduced in September 2022 for first time buyers from £425,000 to £300,000
• An increase in the surcharge payable for additional properties from 3% to 5%
• An increase in the rate payable by corporates and non-natural persons from 15% to 17%

We already knew the reduction in first time buyers was coming as this was announced in the summer, but the other changes were additional.

The surcharge is payable by those buying second or further properties and would include landlords buying property for buy to let. The worry in the market therefore is that the increased rates will force more properties off the rental market which is already struggling from high rents due to lack of availability compared with demand.

Corporates also have to consider the Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED) implications when buying residential property, the limits for which have not increased since April 2016 despite increases in property prices over that period.

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