Last week, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced a permanent cut to stamp duty, with thresholds raising from £125,000 to £250,000 and for first time buyers, from £300,000 to £425,000. This means a first-time buyer purchasing a property priced at £500,000 will save £2,500.
Retirement Homesearch Sales Manager Laura Fisher says:
“We welcome the cut in stamp duty, which we feel has been long overdue. First-time buyers are already feeling the pinch with increasingly higher interest rates, and they shouldn’t need to have the additional burden of stamp duty costs when trying to get on the first step of the property ladder.
“Previous cuts, such as the covid ‘stamp duty holiday’ have proven to boost the confidence of both buyers and sellers and brought much needed housing stock to the market.
“However, while it’s great that 90% of our available retirement stock now falls below the stamp duty threshold, we feel there is still more that could be done to encourage downsizing. While this latest announcement will provide some relief for first-time buyers, we feel it would also be beneficial to offer support further up the property chain to down sizers or last time movers to help stop the stagnation as many buyers are still struggling to find properties to move on up to.”
