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Mini-Budget 2022: The Growth Plan – Stamp Duty Land Tax Changes
SDLT was one of many taxes that were for the chop
Stamp Duty Land Tax is one of many taxes that today were for the chop under the new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng. A number of changes were announced to help increase activity in the property market which is planned to fuel growth and business investment in the economy.
Nil rate band increase
Firstly, affecting all residential property purchases, and effective from today, the nil rate band for stamp duty land tax, being the level below which no stamp duty land tax is payable was doubled from the existing level of £125,000 to £250,000 so that house buyers do not pay stamp duty land tax on the first £250,000 of property purchases from today.
This will save anyone moving house £2,500 in stamp duty land tax.
First time buyers
There were also changes to help support first time buyers, to help more people get onto the property ladder and invest in owning their own home. First time buyers already had an enhanced nil rate band to reduce the amount of stamp duty land tax payable on their first home, but this band was also increased from the existing level of £300,000 to £425,000.
Furthermore, this enhanced nil rate band was only available previously on properties costing less than £500,000 and the Chancellor has also increased this to include properties up to £625,000 cost.
First time buyers will therefore be able to benefit from up to £8,750 in relief from stamp duty land tax in addition to the £2,500 saving all people moving house will achieve.
Rise in house prices
There are fears that reducing stamp duty will lead to more activity in the housing market which will drive the prices of housing up as people turn to bidding wars to buy homes and drive up the price due to demand. However, interest rates and inflation are also rising which will drive down the number of people with the ability to afford bigger mortgages. There is no doubt that a stamp duty land tax reduction will lead to more activity and these factors could balance one another out to achieve activity without the price rises feared, but we will have to wait and see how the market actually responds.
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