That’s according to Coventry Building Society, which analysed the latest data from HMRC.
The mutual noted that first-time buyers currently pay stamp duty if their home costs more than £425,000, but the nil-rate threshold is set to drop to £300,000 in March 2025. The change will push many more first-time buyers into paying the tax.
London FTBs hit hardest
The average first-time buyer property in London is currently £461,450, meaning that stamp duty for a first-time buyer home in the capital will shoot up from an average £1,822 to £8,072 next April.
Throughout the first three quarters of 2022 (Jan-Sep), before the extended nil-rate thresholds were in place, nearly one in three (27%) first-time buyers were paying stamp duty, said Coventry.
Jonathan Stinton, head of intermediary relationships at the Building Society, said: “With no action from the Chancellor to make stamp duty thresholds permanent, first-time buyers are left in an increasingly tough spot.
“Buyers in London will have to find an extra £6k for the tax on their home come April, which isn’t exactly spare change they have lying around – this is a jolting hike.
“First-time buyers need help and support to get on the ladder but, if almost a quarter of them are paying stamp duty, even the extended thresholds aren’t doing enough. At the very least we would have liked to have seen the thresholds made permanent in the Budget announcement, even if it was just for first-time buyers, as they can be the catalyst for additional property activity.”
