241,300 new homeowners benefit from stamp duty tax relief

More than 241,000 first time buyers have pocketed the cash they would have spent on Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) for their new homes, statistics published by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) reveal.

The money-saving tax relief, known as First Time Buyers Relief (FTBR), was introduced on 22 November 2017; and new quarterly figures show first time buyers saved £144 million between October and December 2018, which means new homeowners have saved £570 million since the relief’s introduction.

Mel Stride MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said:

“These statistics show the value of government help for first time buyers. Over the last quarter 60,000 new homeowners got help to realise the dream of property ownership.”

FTBR is a SDLT relief for eligible first time buyers. The tax relief can be used when buying a residential property where the purchase price is no more than £500,000 in England and Northern Ireland, as long as the purchaser does not own any other properties and intends to use it as their main residence.

In the Budget, the relief was extended to first time buyers purchasing through approved shared ownership schemes who choose to pay SDLT in stages, rather than on the market value of the property. This has been retrospectively applied to eligible property transactions since last November.

The relief was claimed in 60,700 transactions, in the fourth quarter of 2018; an increase of 3% compared to the previous quarter.

Notes to Editors

1. The quarterly SDLT statistics, including the latest figures for FTBR were published on 31 January. The latest statistics can be accessed on GOV.UK.
2. The relief applies only to purchases in England and Northern Ireland, SDLT is devolved in Scotland and Wales.
3. The amount of relief reported should not be used to infer average house prices for first time buyers; first time buyer purchases below £125k and above £500k are not included in the statistics as they are below the lower SDLT threshold (£125k) or ineligible for the relief (above £500k). For purchases up to £300,000 no SDLT is payable. Where the purchase price is between £300,000 and £500,000 SDLT at 5% is due on the amount above £300,000. For example, a property purchased for £450,000 would pay £7,500 SDLT (5% of £150,000). This gives a saving of up to £5,000 for each first time buyer relief transaction.
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