Stamp duty boost for first-time buyers of shared-ownership homes

Stamp duty for first-time buyers of shared-ownership homes costing up to £500,000 has been abolished by Chancellor Philip Hammond.

Shared ownership is the system in which a person owns a percentage of a property, typically between 25 and 75%, and a housing association owns the rest. The scheme makes it possible to buy all the property and own it completely over time.

Stamp duty for first-time buyers of fully-owned properties costing up to £300,000 was abolished in 2017. Mr Hammond said 121,500 first-time buyers had since benefited and their number is now at an eleven-year high.

Buyers of shared-ownership properties were overlooked last year but have now been included.

Mr Hammond made the announcement during his Budget speech. He said he was making the “relief retrospective so any first-time buyer who has made such a purchase since the last Budget will benefit” by being able to claim a refund.

The changes apply to England and Northern Ireland, but not Scotland and Wales.

It means that the new stamp duty cost for first-time buyers is now:

• fully-owned properties up £300k, no stamp duty
• shared-ownership properties up £500k, no stamp duty
• fully-owned properties between £300k and £500k – 5% on the part above £300k
• all properties between £500k – £925,000 – 5%
• all properties between £925,001 – £1.5m – 10%

Please contact Jackie Hand or Dipak Odedra if you would like advice about the legal aspects of buying or selling a home.