The UK government has announced that from 8 July 2020 the Stamp Duty Land Tax threshold for residential property in the UK will rise from £125,000 to £500,000. The move, which comes amidst a series of initiatives introduced by the Treasury to boost the UK economy post-pandemic will save buyers up to £15,000 on their property purchases.

Clynton Nel, Residential Director at JOHNS&CO, said: “The news that the Stamp Duty threshold has been increased to £500,000 will be particularly welcome news for First Time Buyers (FTBs) who have been desperate to get on to the housing ladder following three years of Brexit uncertainty followed by lockdown.

“£15,000 is a significant sum to a FTB and means they now have this additional cash to inject into the property, or somewhere else entirely.

“The move brings a much-needed boost to the property market which was effectively put on pause for two months during lockdown. Since then, we have been busier than ever, with record breaking numbers of enquiries and sales across our London branches and we expect this news to further incentive buyers to progress their plans.

“A word of caution would be to take note of the end date of March 2021. Given the ongoing threat posed by the pandemic it would be wise to expedite any plans to take advantage of this new threshold sooner rather than later and particularly in advance of any potential future localised lockdowns.”

JOHNS&CO is appointed on several leading residential developments in London with properties on the market ranging on average from £300,000 – £4m presenting excellent opportunities for buyers to make the most of the increased threshold should they choose to purchase a new home before March 2021, when the incentive is expected to come to an end.

For more information or to find out more about the opportunities presented by this change, contact one of the team at JOHNS&CO on +44 (0)20 7118 0200.