75% of First Time Buyers have benefited from stamp duty giveaway

Earlier this month, HMRC reported that 58,800 first time buyers claimed first time buyer relief (FTBR) in the third quarter of this year, taking the total number of users during the period of November 2017 to November 2018 to 180,500, saving £426 million between them.

While the changes have been implemented across England to help reduce up-front costs paid by first time buyers, in reality the benefit has been felt largely by those in London and the South where house prices are higher. In areas of lower house prices, a large proportion of buyers already fell below the previous stamp duty threshold of £125,000. In the South East, 93% of first time buyers have made savings, compared to 39% in the North East.

Of the total amount saved in stamp duty between November 2017 and November 2018, first time buyers in London have enjoyed a 28% share, worth approximately £119 million, followed by the South East at 25% (£106 million) and the East at 14% (£62 million). Meanwhile, first time buyers in the North East enjoyed just 1% of the savings, worth £5 million.



Despite the fact that first time buyers in London have saved approximately £119 million over the last year, nearly three quarters of those who have benefited from the changes are still paying stamp duty on their purchase, albeit reduced.

As a consequence of high house prices in the capital, over a fifth of first time buyers in London in the last year spent over £500,000 on their first home, thereby not benefiting at all from the changes.
Rob Houghton, CEO of reallymoving.com, said:

“The Government’s stamp duty giveaway for first time buyers has had little effect in the northern regions, with the impact broadly increasing the further south you go.

“The Government recognised the impact of regional house price variations when it introduced Help to Buy regional caps in the recent Budget, yet stamp duty continues to be applied nationally, remaining a major barrier to thousands who are buying in higher value locations.

“Consequently, first time buyers in the south of England still have some serious saving to do to cover the up-front costs of buying their first home, but the majority are paying less than they did under the old system. Alongside other schemes such as Help to Buy ISAs and shared ownership, 2018 has been a great year to get on the housing ladder.”
 
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Notes to Editors

Methodology

Analysis based on data collected from 34,338 first time buyers registering on reallymoving.com for conveyancing quotes between 22^nd November 2017 and 21^st November 2018. 

The data represents those purchasing in England only.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is calculated under relief rules based on property prices for each registration. For comparison, reallymoving.com has analysed how much this would have cost the same users under the old SDLT system.

Regional share of the total savings is calculated by summing savings per region and applying the share to HMRC’s total savings value of £426 million.

Excludes those using Shared Ownership and those that do not qualify for first time buyer relief.

About reallymoving.com

Launched in 1999, reallymoving.com has become the UK's leading provider of free instant quotes for home-moving services, serving its 2 millionth customer at the beginning of 2018. It is an independent and privately financed company, majority owned by its management and Directors.

During 2017 reallymoving.com received 280,000 registrations and generated 980,000 quotes on behalf of its UK-wide network of partners, representing approximately £172 million worth of work in 12 months. reallymoving.com believes approximately 8% of the UK’s home movers in 2017 received quotes from the site.

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For press information please contact: Sarah Lawrence  [email protected] 07984 422 461