Now Wales also overhauls stamp duty ‘to help first time buyers’
Welsh finance ministers says changes, which raise zero-rate to £225,000, are to make the taxation system fairer.
Wales has followed England and Northern Ireland with a retooling of its stamp duty rates, raising the price at which Welsh home buyers begin paying stamp duty from £180,000 to £250,000.
The news will be welcome news for the nation’s sales agents and their buyer, vendor and landlord clients, many of whom will have been watching as the industry over the border hand clapped Kwasi Kwarteng’s stamp duty initiative.
The Welsh changes to its Land Transaction Tax (LTT) will kick in on 10th October but the give-away at the bottom comes with other changes which will bring extra costs to purchasers of more expensive homes.
- Anyone buying a home costing less than £345,000 will see a reduction in the LTT they pay, up to a maximum of £1,575.
- People buying homes worth more than £345,000 will see an increase – up to £550 – but these only represent around 15% of property transactions in Wales.
“This is a change tailored to the unique needs of the housing market in Wales and contributes to our wider vision of a fairer tax system,” says Rebecca Evans (main picture), Minister for Finance and Local Government.
“61% of homebuyers will not pay tax on their purchase. These changes will get support to people who need it and help with the impact of rising interest rates.
“We also know that helping people at the lower end of the market will have a particular benefit for first time buyers.”
Commentary
Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark (pictured), says: “Wales has seen large growth in house prices due to spikes in demand, so it is therefore logical that the tax threshold would be changed in line with current property values.
“When LTT incentives are created, they are largely aimed at first time buyers, but incentives for downsizers or last time movers would encourage movement in the latter part of the market, which when blocked stops movement further down for second steppers and first-time buyers, causing stagnation as buyers have nothing to move on to.”
