First time buyers are some of the winners of chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng MP’s mini-Budget.
On Friday, the chancellor announced he would double the level at which people begin paying stamp duty from £125,000 to £250,000.
For first time buyers he increased the level from £300,000 to £425,000. It also allowed for first time buyers to access the relief when they buy a property costing less than £625,000 rather than the current £500,000.
These measures will reduce stamp duty bills for all movers by up to £2,500 with first time buyers able to access up to £11,250 in relief.
The government says the changes are designed to boost the property market and enable up to 29,000 more people to move home each year. It hopes in doing so it will boost household consumption which will increase confidence in the economy and support those businesses reliant on the property market.
However, although 1.1million new homes have been built in England since 2016, there is still a shortfall, the government has abandoned its target of building 300,000 homes each year and the average price of a house is currently well over £300,000.
Sheldon Bosley Knight’s head of residential sales and marketing, James Morton said: “This announcement is good news for first time buyers as the threshold has been raised meaning they could save their necessary deposit monies sooner.
“For other buyers, it is welcome news the stamp duty threshold has been doubled as for too long, it has remained the same despite a huge increase in the price of a home.
“However, there is still the issue that not enough homes are being built and demand is outstripping supply. Unless more properties are made available to buy, prices will continue to rise, thus potentially pricing first time buyers out yet again.”