Last week, Chancellor Rachel Reeves revealed some changes to stamp duty in her Autumn Budget, which will affect landlords and property investors. But how could it impact different regions?
In the UK, all properties worth £250,000 or more are subject to stamp duty land tax. How much you pay depends on the price of the property, as the percentage charged goes up in increments:
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£0-£250,000 = 0%
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£250,001-£925,000 = 5%
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£925,001-£1.5m = 10%
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£1.5m+ = 12%
For first-time buyers, the threshold is currently £450,000, with all properties below this being free of stamp duty – but this is set to revert to the previous level of £300,000 for this buyer group from March 2025. Many in the industry had hoped that the threshold would be extended past March, or even held on a permanent basis to get more people onto the property ladder.
In last week’s Budget, in a somewhat unexpected move, the Chancellor announced that the 3% surcharge for anyone buying an additional property to their main residence would rise to 5% from 31st October. This applies to anyone who already owns a home worth £40,000 or more.
It will also affect buyers that are based overseas if they purchase more than one property in the UK. Overseas property buyers are already subject to a 2% surcharge, so the additional 5% for those buying additional properties will now be added.
House prices make a difference
In recent years, research has shown that more and more buy-to-let landlords and property investors have been diversifying into the North of England and the Midlands. This is due to a combination of benefits, from lower average house prices to growing tenant demand, and stronger rental yields than those that tend to be found in the South.
Levelling up has also seen a huge increase in investment in Northern cities and towns, with vast regeneration projects leading to new property developments springing up to cater for the growing population, providing more opportunities for investors.
The new stamp duty charge is something that will certainly need to be factored into any new investment. For example, a property worth £300,000 would have previously cost an investor or second home-buyer £11,500 in stamp duty, but this will now cost £17,500. The tax cannot be added to the mortgage, but must be paid outright within 14 days of completion.
For investors wanting to keep their tax costs down, the new rate could make cheaper parts of the country even more appealing.
For example, the average property in the North West costs £262,989, according to the latest data from Rightmove. Stamp duty is only payable on the amount above £250,000, so the bill would be £13,798 on the average property. By contrast, investing in the average-valued property in the South East of England, costing £483,789, could mean a stamp duty bill of £35,878.
Source: Rightmove
Will stamp duty changes affect the market?
The UK housing market remains an extremely popular place to invest as a source of income for landlords, along with the fact that long-term growth often means strong capital appreciation, adding to rental returns. This remains unchanged, especially as the UK’s rental market continues to see huge levels of demand.
Again, the market can be seen to perform differently depending on the location, so investors may now need to think even more carefully about where they invest in light of the stamp duty changes. Along with lowering the stamp duty bill, factoring in rental yields can also make a big difference to the success of an investment.
Targeting areas with known high tenant demand remains a strategy adopted by many buy-to-let landlords to ensure their investment serves them well.
As Ross Turrell, CHL Mortgages commercial director, points out, those operating in the sector have grown accustomed to various taxation and regulatory changes in the past – putting the stamp duty change into perspective.
“Today’s Budget clearly calls for careful consideration from the buy-to-let (BTL) market,” he said. “But, given the sector’s proven track record for successfully navigating ever-shifting regulatory and economic landscapes, we should be wary of excessive doom-mongering.”
“Just look at the challenges that BTL landlords have had to respond to over the past decade – while almost every regulatory, tax or legislative reform is framed as an existential threat, the market consistently demonstrates resilience and adaptability.”
At the same time, Angharad Truman, ARLA Propertymark president, has criticised the government’s decision to raise second property stamp duty, saying: “We continue to see a growing disparity in the number of private rented homes available against a backdrop of increasing demand from tenants. Therefore, it is disappointing to see that the UK Government did not address this fundamental issue in its Autumn Budget and instead has announced yet another blow for landlords by increasing stamp duty on second homes.”
“The private rented sector plays a crucial role in housing the nation with over 4.6 million homes in England alone, therefore it is imperative that the UK Government does not continue to push landlords out of the market.”
“In order to ultimately keep people in much needed and affordable private rented homes, we continue to stress the importance of support for the private rented sector including incentives for landlords to invest rather than continuing to penalise them through regulatory bombardment and increasing costs.”
If you’re looking for your next property investment opportunity to minimise your stamp duty bill, get in touch with BuyAssociation today and find out about our properties that are less than £250,000.
