When is the stamp duty holiday ending? What you need to know

The stamp duty holiday is about to come to an end, which could make a substantial difference to your upcoming property purchase. Whether you are on the middle of completing a property purchase, on the cusp of buying or just starting out on your property search, it’s worth knowing about the changes that are coming up in the near future.

Essentially, after 1 October, the stamp duty-free threshold will return to £125,000 – anyone purchasing a property in England and Northern Ireland over this price will need to pay property tax at the pre-holiday rate. For a reminder on what this means, read our helpful guide to all things Stamp Duty below.

What is stamp duty?

Originally introduced in England in 1694, stamp duty has stuck as a revenue raiser for the government. In England, Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is usually set at  £125,000 or £300,000 for first-time buyers. The tax systems are slightly different in Wales and Scotland, which had the Land Transaction Tax (LTT) and the Land & Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) respectively.

What is the stamp duty holiday?

To help homebuyers and boost the UK property market during the Covid-19 pandemic, the stamp duty holiday was introduced in July 2020 and was originally expected to last until 30 June 2021. Over the initial period (extended to 30 June), buyers completing a purchase on a residential property for less than £500,000 didn’t have to pay stamp duty.

What will the stamp duty holiday ending mean?

The stamp duty holiday has steadily been going back to normal rates in stages. From 1 July 2021 to 30 September 2021 you won’t have to pay tax on the first £250,000 of a new property. On 1 October 2021, you will have to pay stamp duty in England and Northern Ireland at the previous rate (before the stamp duty holiday was introduced) at £125,000. See the tables below for a full breakdown.

Stamp duty rates from 1 July until 30 September 2021

Stamp duty rates from 1 October 2021

What does the stamp duty holiday ending mean for me?

If you are completing on your house, you only have until 1 October to complete on your house purchase or else it will be susceptible to pre-holiday stamp duty rates. (You can use our helpful calculator to find out what the stamp duty will be for your purchase price).

UK house prices soared to record highs in June as buyers scrambled to complete purchases before the winding down of the stamp duty holiday – with the average price hitting £266,000 (up by £31,000) on the same month last year.

At Urban Village, we understand that the completing a house sale quickly can be extremely stressful, which is why we’re here to help guide you through the sales process and give you advice established on years of experience and property expertise. 

How Urban Village is best placed to help

At Urban Village we don’t just use the best marketing tools and highly proactive sales techniques to achieve the best price for our customers, we’re a local independent estate agent. This gives us the advantage of knowing our local area better than anyone else, allowing us to advise buyers on everything from local properties to schools to local places of interest to the best place to take the family out for a meal on the weekend.

Ready to put your South London home on the market have any other questions and would like to speak to our sales team about your sale or purchase? Give the Urban Village team a call on 020 3519 9121, email info@urbanvillagehomes.com.