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Nearly 70,000 claim stamp duty relief in four months
Nearly 70,000 first-time buyers have made use of the stamp duty exemption in the first four months since the policy’s introduction.
From 22 November – when the chancellor announced the abolition of stamp duty for first-time buyers on properties worth up to £300,000 – to 31 March, £159m of stamp duty was relieved.
Nearly half of the amount saved (49%) applied to buyers in London and the South East.
The average amount relieved was £2,300, although there was a high degree of regional variation. In London the average was £4,300, while Northern Ireland had the lowest average at £800.
The regional variations reflect average house prices in different areas.
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Mel Stride, financial secretary to the Treasury, said: “I’m proud that the cut to stamp duty for first-time buyers is helping to realise the dream of home ownership for a new generation, alongside building more homes in the right areas, and generous schemes such as the Lifetime ISA and Help to Buy.”
The government estimates that a million people will use the exemption over the next five years.
The statistics do not record the impact of the policy on house prices, which was the topic of some controversy when the policy was first announced in last year’s Autumn Budget.
At the time, the Office for Budget Responsibility predicted that the changes would boost house prices by about 0.3% and that “the main gainers from the policy are people who already own property”.
