Rightmove has repeated its calls for stamp duty reform, which it says is ‘a barrier to movement’ in the housing market. Chief executive Johan Svanstrom (pictured) has said he wants ‘to see ways that affordability can be improved and more first-time buyers can be supported onto the housing ladder’.
The call echoes the CEO’s comments from July last year, when he set out measures to support first-time buyers and urged the government to provide additional help:
“It should consider consumer support measures, by retaining the current first-time buyer stamp duty relief threshold of £425,000 in England, and looking at solutions to help first-time buyers with not only their deposit, but also being able to borrow enough from a lender. Mobility and housing is an important growth engine for the overall economy.”
The company has pointed out that just 40% of properties in England are free from stamp duty, down from 53% in 2017. Last year, data released by Rightmove found that only 4% of homes for sale in London were exempt from the tax, compared to 71% in the North East.
‘With such regional variations in property prices, increasing stamp duty thresholds in line with these regional variations would seem a logical first step for stamp duty reform’, Rightmove property expert Tim Bannister said.
The £300,000 first-time buyer threshold was introduced in 2017, when the average property price was £226,071. That has now jumped by over £42,000, to £268,652. The £125,000 that applies to all other home movers has been in place since March 2006, when the average house price was around £150,000.
