First Purchasers see the Benefit

21st December 2018

More than 180,000 buyers have benefited from Stamp Duty Land Tax relief on their first home, statistics published by HM Revenue and Customs have revealed.

The money-saving initiative, known as First Time Buyers Relief, was introduced in November 2017, and the figures, published by HMRC on the first anniversary, show that the estimated amount saved totals more than £426 million.

The result has been a significant increase in demand for first-time buyers.

"First purchasers now account for nearly a quarter of all buyers that register with us", said Beresford Director Terry Holmes.

"That is up from less than 20% in 2017 and considering the market has stabilised in 2018 with Brexit still unclear, it is a considerable uplift."

"The thousands of pounds they had to save to pay Stamp Duty was a significant proportion of what they needed to find for a deposit."

"We have long argued that it was an unfair tax as it particularly affected first time buyers, those that could least afford it, in London and the Home Counties such as Essex."

"Prices are much higher than other parts of the UK where those buying for the first time often paid nothing at all as the prices were below the old Stamp Duty threshold of £125,000."

Apart from the Stamp Duty saving, first time buyers can still benefit from the Government's Help to Buy scheme that makes it possible to buy a brand new home with as little as 5% deposit.

Since it started in 2013 around 200,000 properties have been bought under Help to Buy and a massive 81% of purchasers were first time buyers.

"The Government has quite rightly identified the fact that one of the major barriers to young people buying their first home was the amount of hard cash needed to fund the deposit, often 20% of the purchase price, and Stamp Duty" added Terry Holmes.

"Only a limited number of people had the advantage of being able to tap into the 'Bank of Mum and Dad', most didn't. Trying to save up tens of thousands of pounds when often paying rent made it an impossible dream."

"You can't argue that Help to Buy has delivered when it comes to supporting those getting on the property ladder. Over 150,000 homes have gone to first-time buyers since its inception 5 years ago, with the proportion of first purchasers looking for a property through us nearly doubling from just 13% in that time".

Beresfords mortgage arm, Flagstone, offers independent advice to first time buyers, specialising in sourcing mortgages that are right for the buyer, not the bank. You can contact one of their advisers here or you can click for live mortgage rates.