The government’s move to abolish stamp duty land tax (SDLT) on properties under £300,000 has benefited 69,000 first-time buyers in the period up until 31st March this year, official statistics show
The latest quarterly SDLT transaction data shows that 19% of all residential transactions claimed first time buyers’ relief.
In total £159m was claimed in first time buyers’ relief between 22nd November 2017 and 31 March 2018. The majority of the relieved SDLT was from transactions in the South East, London and the East of England, accounting for £40m, £38m and £25m respectively.
The average amount of relief on first time buyer relief transactions was £2,300. London had the highest average of £4,300 which is almost twice the overall average; Northern Ireland had the lowest average of £800 which is about a third of the overall average. One in five (19%) of all first time buyer transactions were in the South East and 13% were in London.
Overall, in Q1 2018 residential transactions fell by 21% (63,800) to 238,200, the largest quarterly fall since 2014-15.
Mel Stride, financial secretary to the Treasury, said: ‘I’m proud that the cut to stamp duty for first-time buyers is helping to realise the dream of home ownership for a new generation, alongside building more homes in the right areas, and generous schemes such as the Lifetime ISA and Help to Buy’.
Treasury estimates suggest over the next five years the first time buyer relief will help over one million people getting onto the housing ladder.
Separate figures also show that over 387,000 people have now used the government’s Help to Buy scheme, and over 1.1m accounts have been opened with the Help to Buy ISA, offering government bonuses of up to £3,000.
The median age of a first-time buyer in the Help to Buy scheme is 27, compared to a national first-time buyer median age of 30.
Since the launch of the Help to Buy ISA, 128, 328 property completions have been supported by the scheme and 172,068 bonuses have been paid through the scheme with an average bonus value of £767.
The highest proportion of property completions with the support of the scheme is in the North West, Yorkshire and The Humber and West Midlands, with a lower proportion in the North East and Northern Ireland.
The mean value of a property purchased through the scheme is £172,076 compared to an average first-time buyer house price of £190,722 and a national average house price of £226,756.
Quarterly Stamp Duty Statistics are here.
Help to Buy: ISA scheme quarterly statistics: December 2015 to 30 December 2017 are here.
Report by Pat Sweet
