By Peter Pownall
The Government has announced changes to residential property stamp duty so that rates fall only to that part of the property price that falls within each band.
The new rates for properties completed from midnight to night are:
- 0% in first £125,000 then
- 2% on the portion up to £250,000
- 5% up to £925,000,
- then 10% up to £1.5m;
- 12% on anything above that
The guidance from HMRC is still awaited as to how this will be put into effect. It appears that people buying properties at the lower end of each band will save whereas at the upper parts of the bands there will be no difference.
As an example buying a property for £150,000 will now attract Stamp Duty Land Tax of £500 instead of £1500. Buying a £500,000 property will attract the same duty of £15,000.
It is expected the coming days will enlighten us on how much of an effect this will have on the property market.