According to HMRC, more than 180,000 first-time buyers have benefitted from First Time Buyers’ Relief (FTBR) from Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT).
Introduced in the November 2017 Budget, FTBR has saved homeowners more than £426 million.
FTBR is a relief from a charge on SDLT for first-time buyers of residential property situated in England and Northern Ireland – where the market value purchase price is no more than £500,000.
If you, and anyone else you’re buying with, are a first-time buyer of a residential property, you can claim relief on purchases:
- made on or after 22 November 2017;
- Where the purchase price is no more than £500,000.
You will pay:
- 0% on the first £300,000;
- 5% on the remainder up to £500,000.
In the 2018 Autumn Budget, it was announced that FTBR had been extended to cover purchases of qualifying shared ownership properties where the first-time buyers did not elect to pay SDLT on the market value of the whole property when acquiring their initial interest.
The extension of the relief will apply retrospectively from 22 November 2017, meaning that a refund of tax will be payable to those who have paid SDLT after 22 November 2017 in circumstances which now qualify for first-time buyers’ relief.
Note:
- Scotland replaced SDLT with Land and Buildings Transaction Tax in 2015 and then, in February 2018, brought in its own version of FTBR.
- In April 2018, Wales replaced SDLT with Land Transaction Tax (LBT). While Wales does not have a version of FTBR, the residential property threshold at which LBT becomes payable (£180,000) is higher than in any other part of the UK.
Please do not hesitate to talk to us if you want to know more about any of the property transaction taxes within the UK.