Stamp Duty hits second homes as movers pay £9.5BILLION in the last year
The average Brit forked out £7,161 on the controversial tax in 2017, new research has found
HOME-BUYERS forked out a whopping £9.5BILLION in stamp duty last year, according to new figures.
The figure was up by £1.3billion when compared to 2016, with the average Brit paying £7,161 on the controversial tax.
But just under half of the take - £4.1billion (43 per cent) - was down to the additional three per cent surcharge which has been levied on landlords buying properties to rent out and Brits buying second homes since 2016, research from property investment company London Central Portfolio (LCP) found.
Unsurprisingly, the most pricey properties made up most of the balance too, with Greater London making up 39 per cent of the overall total and the most expensive 10 per cent of homes contributing around 60 per cent.
Two of the capital's boroughs, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster, accounted for £0.6billion of the total by themselves, with one property in Knightsbridge selling for an eye-watering £90million and generating more than £10million for the tax man.
Due to prices in the capital, Londoners are paying four times more stamp duty than the national average at £27,323.
How to get help buying a house
THERE are several government schemes available to help you get on the housing ladder.
- Help to Buy loan: This scheme is for those who have a 5 per cent deposit, and is only available on new-build properties that are worth less than £600,000. The government lends you up to 20 per cent of the property value (interest-free for the first five years) which gives you access to cheaper mortgages. You will need to pay this back at the end of the mortgage or when you sell.
- Starter Homes: First-time buyers under the age of 40 can access this new scheme. You’ll get a 20 per cent discount on the market value of the property (new-build only) but you cannot sell or let the property for five years after you buy it.
- Shared ownership: This scheme is available to non-homeowners who earn £80,000 a year or less (£90,000 in London). People can buy a share of a home from a housing association and continue to rent the remainder. Buyers will need a ten per cent deposit as well as money to cover stamp duty and other fees. You’ll also need to find a mortgage lender that is willing to lend on shared ownership properties.
At the Autumn Budget in November, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that first-time buyers paying £300,000 or less for a home would pay no stamp duty in a bid to help desperate Brits get on their foot on the property ladder.
Before the move, research from Santander claimed that 146,000 property deals - more than 29,000 a year - had been prevented due to the tax.
But some experts predicted its scrapping would actually push-up prices for first-time buyers instead, while figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) found there had been little boost in housing demand in the immediate aftermath of its scrapping.
Naomi Heaton, ceo of LCP, said: "Despite the continued rumble around whether the richest are paying their ‘fair share’, it is clear that they are the main contributor to Stamp Duty revenue.
"LCP's findings indicate that the majority of the Exchequer's £9.5bn tax take is being generated by the 10 per cent most expensive sales and that buyers in London are paying four times more stamp duty than the national average."
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