New stamp duty rules coming in two weeks and will cost UK households £2,500 each

Stamp duty discount won't be extended in the new Labour Party government's Budget, according to reports.

New stamp duty changes are coming in the Autumn Budget, according to widespread predictions from mortgage experts and property champions. Stamp duty discount won't be extended in the new Labour Party government's Budget, according to reports.

The Times suggests house buyers will pay £2,500 more in stamp duty as a result. The tax is calculated on the part of the property purchase price falling within each band. For example, if you buy a house for £350,000 in England or Northern Ireland, you would pay no stamp duty on the first £250,000, then 5% on the remaining amount between £250,001 and £350,000.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to lay out the policy in her 30 October Budget, which will cost housebuyers up to £2,500, according to a report in the Times. She will confirm that the government will not extend the increase to the threshold, which will end next March, at which these buyers start paying stamp duty.

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Under temporary measures, first-time buyers currently pay no stamp duty tax for home purchases under £425,000, this was raised from £300,000 as part of the mini-Budget in September 2022. It is one of the few measures that remains from that fiscal event. The move is expected to raise £1.8bn a year by 2029 to 2030.

The approach will particularly affect buyers in London and the South East, where the average price of a home is £694,906 and £483,780, respectively, according to the latest Rightmove data. Stamp duty is not liable for any home under £250,000.

The typical cost of a FTB home across the country is £226,868. Stamp duty on primary residencies is charged at 5 per cent of the purchase price for homes between £250,000 and £925,000, 10 per cent for properties between £925,001 and £1.5m and 12 per cent above that.