Stamp Duty holiday

October 2008

In an attempt to arrest the price slide in the housing market the Chancellor announced measures on 2 September 2008 to ease the impact of Stamp Duty Land Tax. The details are:

For one year from 3 September 2008 stamp duty will not be charged on residential house purchases of £175,000 or less. Prior to this announcement residential property sales up to £125,000 were exempt.

If the sale proceeds exceed £175,000 the starting rate of stamp duty land tax, 1%, will apply to the total consideration, not the excess over £175,000.

The higher rates of stamp duty are unchanged. 3% for sales over £250,000 and 4% for sales over £500,000.