Residential Property Partner, Gregor Sim, takes a look at some changes in SDLT introduced in the Budget.   

The Chancellor in the Budget has looked to boost the fragile housing market by affording another temporary relief from Stamp Duty Land Tax at the lower end. The initial headline looked like good news for all but as the saying goes "The big print giveth and the small print taketh away".

From 25th March 2010 an exemption from Stamp Duty was introduced for transactions where the Price or Consideration is £250,000 or less - the previous lower end exemption was only up to £125,000. The Stamp Duty holiday is scheduled to end on 25th March 2012- to benefit from the increased exemption your date of entry will have to be before this date. 

There are however various exclusions which effectively limits the benefit to those who are truly First Time Buyers.

-If any purchaser has owned any property previously the exemption doesn’t apply and you must pay stamp duty at 1% for purchases below £250,000. This applies even if one purchaser inherited rather than purchased a property and applies if property has been owned anywhere in the world!

-The relief only applies to individuals and as such companies, partnerships or similar bodies will not be given the exemption - with limited exceptions.

- The purchaser must intend to occupy the property as their only or main residence - a declaration is required to this effect.

-Non-residential or mixed use property does not qualify.

And at the top end of the market....

The Chancellor also announced in the 2010 budget that, from 6 April 2011, anyone buying a property costing more than £1,000,000 will pay a new higher 5% rate of stamp duty.This doesn’t apply until then, so if you buy a property before that date, and it exceeds the £1 million threshold, you pay the current top rate of 4% - unless of course the government at the time change the rules before then...