Many first time buyers in London are exempt from stamp duty on the first £300,000 of homes worth up to £500,000
With the average first-time buyer home in London now costing £479,000, according to estate agent
Savills, the relief cuts the stamp duty bill by about £5,000.
London, where the average first-time buyer spends £422,000, the savings are small relative to the other hurdles associated with buying a first property. Compared to the cost of the deposit it’s not a big saving. Soaring house prices and the income required to obtain a large mortgage remain the biggest problems.
Christian Harper, owner at Harper Finn: “It wont make the blind bit of difference in London and certainly not in Chiswick. It's been quite some years since a property sold at less than £300k so it won't make the dream of home-ownership more achievable."
MoneySavingExpert has updated its stamp duty
calculator to reflect the change.
