Well-telegraphed changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) came into force in England and Northern Ireland on 1 April 2025. Conveyancers were busy as buyers rushed to complete before the end of March, in order to take advantage of the savings represented by the ‘old’ rates. In this article, we discuss the recent changes and how they affect your transaction.
The recent changes can be summarised as follows:
- Nil rate threshold, which was previously £250,000 has been halved, returning to the previous level of £125,000. A purchase of a dwelling by an individual (but not a first-time buyer) costing £500,000 would have meant an SDLT bill of £12,500 before the end of March 2025, however in April the SDLT liability increased by £2,500 to £15,000.
- Nil rate threshold for first-time buyers, which was previously £425,000, has returned to the previous level of £300,000. First-time buyers paying £500,000 for a property on 30 March 2025 would have paid £3,750 in SDLT, while now they would pay £10,000.
- Maximum purchase price for First-Time Buyers Relief was previously £625,000 and will now return to the previous level of £500,000 – see table below. So, if a first-time buyer bought a £625,000 dwelling on 1 April this year, the SDLT would have been £21,250, whereas it would have been £10,000 if they had completed the day before.
From 1st April 2025, the stamp duty rates for a single property (i.e. single main residence and UK owner) will be:
The details above assume a buyer is UK resident and the 5% surcharge (for acquisitions of additional residential property) does not apply.
If you want more information about the new rates and/or how they affect your transaction, please get in touch.
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