Some 31% of first-time buyers will pay more stamp duty after the government chose to let the higher stamp duty thresholds expire.

From April 2025 first-time owners will pay stamp duty on purchases over £300,000, down from £425,000.

Richard Merrett, managing director of Alexander Hall, said: “It was widely expected that the government would extend the current stamp duty relief threshold for first-time buyers at the very least, so many will be understandably disappointed that this wasn’t the case.

“However, the good news is that across the vast majority of local authorities, the average price paid by a first-time buyer still falls below the £300,000 threshold, meaning that as of April next year, they could still benefit from a stamp duty free first home purchase.”

The current average first-time buyer house price sits below £300,000 in 68% (202) of local authorities in England.

There are currently 68 local authorities across England – 23% of the market – where the average price paid by a first-time buyer currently sits between £300,000 and £425,000.

Whilst some areas, such as Adur, Stratford-upon-Avon and Cherwell, will see SDLT increase from nothing to less than £100, this climbs to almost £6,000 in areas such as Redbridge, Cambridge and Newham.

What’s more, current SDLT relief only applies to purchases of first homes up to £625,000 and from April next year this ceiling will reduce to £500,000.

As a result, there are four local authorities in England – Hackney, Richmond, Wandsworth and Kingston – where first-time buyers currently benefit from a degree of stamp duty relief due to the average house price sitting between £500,000 and £625,000.

As of next April, the average buyer in these London boroughs will no longer qualify for any SDLT relief, meaning the cost of stamp duty is set to climb by £11,250.

Via @PropertyWire