241,300 new homeowners benefit from stamp duty tax relief

More than 241,000 first time buyers have pocketed the cash they would have spent on Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) for their new homes, statistics published by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) reveal.

The money-saving tax relief, known as First Time Buyers Relief (FTBR), was introduced on 22 November 2017; and new quarterly figures show first time buyers saved £144 million between October and December 2018, which means new homeowners have saved £570 million since the relief’s introduction.

Mel Stride MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said:

“These statistics show the value of government help for first time buyers. Over the last quarter 60,000 new homeowners got help to realise the dream of property ownership.”

FTBR is a SDLT relief for eligible first time buyers. The tax relief can be used when buying a residential property where the purchase price is no more than £500,000 in England and Northern Ireland, as long as the purchaser does not own any other properties and intends to use it as their main residence.

In the Budget, the relief was extended to first time buyers purchasing through approved shared ownership schemes who choose to pay SDLT in stages, rather than on the market value of the property. This has been retrospectively applied to eligible property transactions since last November.

The relief was claimed in 60,700 transactions, in the fourth quarter of 2018; an increase of 3% compared to the previous quarter.

HMRC Press Release