What do the stamp duty changes mean?

As of 1st April 2025 the stamp duty rates for England and Northern Ireland are due to change. This could mean that a lot of people have to pay more stamp duty on their property purchases, whether it’s their only property or an additional property.

Stamp duty land tax (SDLT) is an important cost to factor into your property purchase, so it’s certainly best to be aware of the upcoming changes when they come into effect, and how they’ll affect your property purchase. Your solicitor will be able to advise you on how much you’ll be looking to pay and will often quote this at the early stages, to make sure you have plenty of time to prepare.

Currently, you do not pay stamp duty on the first £250,000 worth of property that you purchase, however, that figure is soon to be reduced back down to £125,000. This means that you’d pay stamp duty on an additional £125,000 worth of property from the 1st April 2025.

The new stamp duty threshold rates (from 1st April 2025), as per the Government website, on a residential property transaction for a single property (e.g. not an additional property) are:

Up to £125,000 - Zero
From £125,001 to £250,000 - 2%
£250,001 to £925,000 - 5%
£925,001 to £1.5 million - 10%
The portion above 1.5 million - 12%

Unfortunately, just having your sale agreed before the deadline of 1st April 2025 won’t be enough to secure your stamp duty at the lower rate, because stamp duty is paid on completion of your property purchase. This means that your sale will need to exchange and complete before the 31st March 2025 in order to qualify for the current lower rates.

The stamp duty changes will affect first time home buyers too, as the threshold for first time buyer relief is also reducing to £300,000, from the current £425,000.

For more information on stamp duty, or to work out how much stamp duty you’re likely to pay, head to the Government website

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