Which areas will benefit most from the stamp duty holiday?

As you may have heard, some home-movers can now take advantage of a new stamp duty holiday.

The temporary tax break, which was introduced on 8th July, means that buyers in England and Northern Ireland won’t pay any stamp duty on homes up to £500,000 until 31st March next year.

Asking prices of property vary massively across the country, so here’s what the average savings are in your region:

We also took a look at some of the biggest winners, where asking prices are currently between £450,000 and £500,000:

Outside London:

Area Region Average asking price Potential stamp duty saving
Dorking, Surrey South East £498,422 £14,921
Lymington, Hampshire South East £498,326 £14,916
Sunbury-On-Thames, Surrey South East £498,088 £14,904
Barton On Sea, New Milton, Hampshire South East £497,853 £14,893
Lewes, East Sussex South East £491,304 £14,565
Broxbourne, Hertfordshire East of England £486,701 £14,335
Hove, East Sussex South East £481,455 £14,073
Oxford, Oxfordshire South East £479,099 £13,955
Leckhampton, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire South West £477,518 £13,876
Hertford, Hertfordshire East of England £477,431 £13,872
Borehamwood, Hertfordshire East of England £476,791 £13,840
Camberley, Surrey South East £474,384 £13,719
Egham, Surrey South East £473,213 £13,661
Bramhall, Stockport, Cheshire North West £472,053 £13,603
Fleet, Hampshire South East £471,653 £13,583
Wallingford, Oxfordshire South East £469,082 £13,454
Caterham, Surrey South East £467,885 £13,394
Wilmslow, Cheshire North West £467,443 £13,372
Tunbridge Wells, Kent South East £467,145 £13,357
Bath, Somerset South West £464,617 £13,231
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire East of England £464,007 £13,200
Chesham, Buckinghamshire South East £462,210 £13,110
Caversham, Reading, Berkshire South East £460,747 £13,037
Burnham, Slough, Berkshire South East £459,634 £12,982
Tonbridge, Kent South East £456,293 £12,815
Hitchin, Hertfordshire East of England £453,389 £12,669
Staines, Surrey South East £452,219 £12,611
West Malling, Kent South East £450,553 £12,528

In London:

Area Borough Average asking price Potential stamp duty saving
Orpington Bromley £497,852 £14,893
Burnt Oak Barnet £497,839 £14,892
Chingford Waltham Forest £493,462 £14,673
Sydenham Lewisham £492,960 £14,648
Walthamstow Waltham Forest £492,755 £14,638
Wembley Brent £482,929 £14,146
Harrow Harrow £482,691 £14,135
Biggin Hill Bromley £478,702 £13,935
Blackfen Bexley £470,013 £13,501
Greenford Ealing £465,798 £13,290
Deptford Lewisham £465,670 £13,283
Forest Gate Newham £464,455 £13,223
Norwood Croydon £462,172 £13,109
Hounslow Hounslow £460,371 £13,019
Hornchurch Havering £459,108 £12,955
Sutton Sutton £457,251 £12,863
Tottenham Haringey £457,091 £12,855
Kingsbury Barnet £456,129 £12,806
Heston Hounslow £452,837 £12,642
Barkingside Redbridge £447,356 £12,368

So what does this mean for you?

It may mean you can now consider a bigger home or a different location.

If so, why not check out our Where can I live? tool or look at our mortgage calculator?

How has the stamp duty holiday affected the market?

There has been record demand already from buyers over the past few weeks.

The number of people phoning and emailing estate agents about property for sale hit a new record on Wednesday (the day of the announcement), up 1% on the previous record set on 11th June and up 93% on the same day in 2019.

We also saw enquiries about new-build homes also hit a record, up 21% on the previous record set back on 11th June.

Request from potential sellers to have their home valued hit a record high, up 35% on the previous record set back on 22nd June and up 89% on the same day in 2019.

In the first half hour of the chancellor making the stamp duty holiday announcement, we saw the number of people looking on our site jump by 22%.

How many homes will be affected by the stamp duty changes?

There are over 510,000 properties that are £500,000 and under on Rightmove in total, making up 81% of all properties for sale in England.

There are more than 291,000 properties that are £500,000 or under currently available for sale on Rightmove, making up 78% of all properties available for sale in England (i.e. they have not yet found a buyer)

People enquiring about properties that are £500,000 or under on Rightmove makes up 84% of all buyer enquiries in England

What do the experts say?

Rightmove’s property expert Miles Shipside said: “This move will help to keep the nation and wider economy moving because keeping the current momentum going will help prevent destabilising falls in property prices as unemployment grows, and enable a quicker economic recovery.

“Lockdown prevented 175,000 would be sellers from coming to market so we hope this Stamp Duty holiday will provide the spur for those missing movers to come to market. They will find there’s currently record demand for their properties from prospective buyers, with Rightmove enquiries to agents now double what they were before lockdown.

“Home-movers will be grateful that the changes come into effect straight away so they don’t have to delay their plans, and what we could see now is people rushing to get a price agreed before some sellers put their prices up in the hope people will be able to pay more because of the tax savings.”

What changes have been introduced in Scotland?

In Scotland, a temporary cut to the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) on house sales kicks in on Wednesday (15th July), which will also last until 31st March next year.

The Scottish government’s changes mean that the starting point for paying the tax on house purchases will rise from £145,000 to £250,000.

This means someone buying a £250,000 property will save £2,100 in LBTT – and that eight out of 10 house sales in Scotland will be exempt from the tax.

What changes have been introduced in Wales?

The Welsh Government has announced a temporary increase to Land Transaction Tax (LTT) for residential property transactions from 27th July 2020.

This means that around 80% of house sales will be exempt from paying tax, as the changes will bring the rate payable for properties valued at between £180,000 and £250,000 to zero until 31st March 2021.

Properties selling for less than £180,000 are already exempt from paying the tax.

READ MORE: What does the new stamp duty holiday mean for you?


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