Published: 07/10/2019
You’ve finally got to a stage in life where you can put an offer in and purchase your first home. After years of renting and saving this is a huge moment so congratulations, according to some reports as many as one in three UK millennial's will never own their own home.
To stimulate the housing market and help young people get onto the housing ladder the government have made this process much more appealing by waiving stamp duty charges for the majority of first time buyers. Fantastic news if you are buying your first house!
So what criteria do you have to meet to be eligible for this benefit:
- To be classified as a first-time buyer you must never have owned a residential property in the UK or abroad. This includes freeholds and interests in leaseholds.
- You must also be purchasing your only or main residence. This means first-time buyers cannot get Stamp Duty relief on buy-to-let properties.
What does this mean:
- As a first-time buyer you will no longer pay Stamp Duty on properties worth up to £500,000.
- The amount of relief you will receive is based on the cost of the property you are purchasing. The first £300,000 of the purchase price will be exempt from stamp duty. This means, as a first-time buyer, you may not have to pay stamp duty at all. For any amount that exceeds £300,000, stamp duty will be charged at an amount of 5%. Unfortunately, if your transaction goes over £500,000, the relief won’t apply to you.
It is worth noting that if you have ever previously inherited a house or been on the deeds to a family members property then you won’t be eligible for any stamp duty exemption.
Now you have all the facts good luck with your first house move!