Stamp Duty – the essential facts and figures
Last year HM Treasury announced that property purchases of £175,000 or less would not be subject to stamp duty. This announcement was intended to kick-start the troubled housing market. As we all know, this kick-start never came.
Consequently, as part of the 2009 Budget, this holiday was then extended until the end of 2009.
So, with just 41 days left till the extension runs out and the previous level of £125,000 comes back into play, what exactly has been the effect for buyers?
In short, the holiday has had little impact, falling well below government forecasts. £428m below to be precise and benefiting only 115,447 home buyers in the first year (Sept 2008- Sept 2009). This works out at less than a quarter of the number the government predicted to benefit.
Between 2 September 2008 (when the holiday took effect) and 1 September 2009, the tax relief saved property buyers only £173 million, compared to the £600 million forecast by the government.
The extension of the holiday to the end of 2009 will also provide only limited relief with an additional 37,500 buyers expected to benefit in the last four months of 2009, saving a further £61 million.
Property buyers in London have benefited least from the stamp duty holiday, where typical house values (£374,284) are almost double the national average. Only 13% of transactions in the capital were eligible for the tax relief (£125,000-£175,000 price bracket) between September 2008 and September 2009, far lower than any other region, and saving buyers just £9.4 million.
But certain areas within commuting distance of London still offer the opportunity to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday before it expires at the end of the year and here they are:
TOP 5 AREAS WHERE BUYERS HAVE BENEFITED FROM STAMP DUTY HOLIDAY
| Area | Average property value (Nov 09)* | % of sales benefiting from stamp duty holiday (Sep 08 – Sep 09) |
| Basildon (SS14) | £132,022 | 58.4% |
| Dagenham (RM9) | £158,030 | 57.4% |
| Street (BA16) | £183,702 | 55.7% |
| Milton Keynes (MK9) | £147,139 | 55.1% |
| Luton (LU4) | £142,751 | 53.8% |
* Source: Zoopla.co.uk
Nick Leeming, our Commercial Director believes that, “The stamp duty holiday has so far failed to reinvigorate the housing market in the way that the government predicted, with limited relief for first-time buyers particularly in the South East. With the government’s plummeting stamp duty revenues, the golden goose of stamp duty now seems somewhat of a dead duck. Rather than ending the stamp duty holiday, the government should seriously consider extending it by making first time buyers permanently exempt and by giving others the ability to defer payment for up to say five years ”
STAMP DUTY HOLIDAY BENEFICIARIES BY REGION
| Region | Average property value (Nov 09)* | % of sales benefiting from stamp duty holiday (Sep 08 – Sep 09) |
| South West | £209,332 | 30.7% |
| East of England | £218,616 | 28.9% |
| West Midlands | £169,140 | 27.0% |
| East Midlands | £156,526 | 26.4% |
| Wales | £149,413 | 24.8% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £139,888 | 24.5% |
| South East | £258,647 | 24.4% |
| North West | £152,356 | 23.5% |
| North East | £153,834 | 21.4% |
| Scotland | £157,070 | 19.6% |
| London | £374,284 | 12.8% |
* Source: Zoopla.co.uk
To support the 1808 campaign to reform Stamp Duty Land Tax, click here or to view five of the best stamp duty bargains, click here.
1 comment November 20, 2009
Five properties exempt from stamp duty
The stamp duty holiday implemented in September 2008, at the height of the property downturn, has helped only 115,447 UK home buyers in its first year, according to our research. That’s less than a quarter of the number predicted by the government. The government also announced, as part of the 2009 Budget, that they would extend the holiday by four months till the end of 2009.
So, with only 41 days till the stamp duty extension ends, we’ve done the hard work for you and found five great properties that, under the current situation, are currently exempt from stamp duty charges.
Follow this link to see our research and read about what impact the stamp duty holiday and extension has had so far.
1. A modernised former farm cottage in Witcham, Nr. Ely, Cambs
£175,000 - 2 bedroom semi detached house
More property for sale in Cambridgeshire
2. Terraced house with 100ft garden, St Ives, Cornwall
£175,000 - 2 bedroom terraced house
More property for sale in Cornwall
3. Two bedroom terraced house, Sevenoaks, Kent
£175,000 - 2 bedroom terraced house
More property for sale in Kent
4. Four bedroomed cottage, Truro, Cornwall
£175,000 - 4 bedroom property
More property for sale in Cornwall
5. Three bedroomed house for sale, Gillingham, Dorset
£175,000 - 3 bedroom house
Add comment November 20, 2009
VOTE HERE if you think we’re Website of the Year
We recently found out we have been nominated for a Website of the Year award in the Real Estate category.
Being nominated is only a part of the process and we really need your support to take it to the next level!
Whilst the judging isn’t purely based on the number of people who vote and rate us, we do need to at least hit 3,000 votes for the judges to take us seriously!
So, if you think we deserve the title please click here, rate us and then validate your vote from the email you recieve!
Thanks for your support and spread the word.
Add comment November 19, 2009
Look! We’re sticking to agents!
Last week thousands of shiny Zoopla.co.uk marketing packs went out to our member agents across the UK.
Packs included pens, pads and funky window stickers which have begun popping up on high streets across the UK.
Thanks to a colleague these pics were taken during her morning stroll to work (she’s an early bird, hence the darkness!).
This is Kentish Town, London.
If you spot any Zoopla.co.uk stickers or Open / Close signs in agent windows on a high street near you, let us know below or on twitter.
2 comments November 13, 2009
Property millionaire or thin air?
Price tag: £40 million, nine bedrooms, The Bishops Avenue, London
Years of booming house prices resulted in the creation of many ‘property paper millionaires’ who experienced rocket propelled property values and membership to the exclusive ‘property millionaires club’.
However this club has just shed a load of members…99,538 to be precise, leaving only 183, 630 today. That’s a 35% drop since November 2007 or another way of looking at it is 1 in 97 properties was valued at over £1 million two years ago but today that figure stands at just 1 in 150.
The hardest hit has been the North East; losing 83% of property millionaires in the past two years. Wales has also been hard hit, losing 56% of its property millionaires over the same period.
No surprise though that, despite the decline in house prices, certain parts of the country remain awash with property millionaires, notably London and the South East, where 81% of all million pound homes can be found.
The capital is home to 57% of all property millionaires, with the largest share residing in Kensington (W8) where 48% of all properties are worth over £1 million. Outside the capital, Virginia Water in Surrey leads the property millionaire stakes, with 28% of homes in the area worth more than a million pounds, compared to a national average of just 0.88%.
Click here for regional breakdown and areas with highest proportion of property millionaires.
FIVE PROPERTIES UNLIKELY TO FALL BELOW THE THRESHOLD ANY TIME SOON
1. £25.9m Courtenay Avenue, Highgate, London
4. £15m Henstridge Place, London
5. £12.5m Clifton Hill, London
Add comment November 6, 2009
