Only one in 10 first time buyers in Northern England pay stamp duty compared to five out of 10 in the South East and nearly eight in 10 in London, new analysis from Zoopla reveals.
First time buyers get relief from stamp duty and pay nothing up for properties costing up to £300,000. However, due to house price variations regionally, three in eight first-time buyers (38%) pay stamp duty nationally, but six in ten don’t.
In the North East, just 2.1% of first time buyers face a stamp duty bill. In Yorkshire and the Humber the figure is 3.8%, and in the North West and West Midlands, 6.2% and 9.3% respectively.
The South East and East of England sit at the tipping point with 51% and 52% of first time buyers in those regions paying stamp duty that adds to the cost of buying.
In London, a majority of 80% pay stamp duty, with the average first time buyer home costing £475,000, commanding £8,750 in stamp duty.
Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, said: ” In London and the South East, the cost of buying an average first time buyer homes is above £300,000 for many buyers which means the majority of first-time buyers face a stamp duty bill on top of an often sizable deposit.
“For home movers, stamp duty is a near-certain cost wherever you live – and in Southern England it runs to five figures. Six in ten property purchases are made by existing homeowners. When the cost of moving becomes a meaningful friction, some of those moves don’t happen, especially with lower levels of house price inflation in recent years across southern England. “
For existing home owners buying their next property there is no relief from stamp duty like that available for first time buyers. This means more than four in five homeowners pay stamp duty in every English region bar the North East, where 63.5% face a bill.
The cost of stamp duty averages £2,200 in both Yorkshire and the North West. In the South East, 95% of home movers pay stamp duty, at an average of £11,250. In London, the bill reaches £20,000 on average.
