First-time buyers will face a stock shortage as well as potentially higher costs once Stamp Duty thresholds return to £300,000 in April, research suggests.
Stamp Duty relief for first-time buyers is set to drop from £425,000 to £300,000 in April.
Experts are predicting a rush to complete sales at these levels before April but new analysis shows that first-time buyers will eventually struggle to find properties worth below £300,000.
Of these, 62% are priced below the current first-time buyer threshold of £425,000.
However, under the incoming lower threshold of £300,000, only 42% of the properties are available without tax.
This marks a reduction of 20%, which means the number of stamp duty purchasing opportunities available to first-time buyers would fall by 91,570 if it were implemented today.
It is of course possible that stock will increase or even decrease.
Some of England’s major cities are going to see an even more radical drop in the number of homes available to them, eXp UK said.
None more so than in Bristol where the reduced threshold could see the proportion of SDLT-free homes fall from 69% all the way down to 26%, a drop of 34%.
First-time buyers in Leicester can expect Stamp Duty-free stock to fall by 26%, followed by Brighton (23%), Greater Manchester (21%), and Leeds (20%).
There are, however, a number of cities in which stock levels will see a below average drop, including Liverpool (13%), Bradford (14%), and Sheffield (15%).
Adam Day, head of eXp UK, said: “There was hope that last week’s Autumn Budget would extend the current Stamp Duty relief given to first-time buyers, at the very least.
“Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case and, as a result, the nation’s first-time buyers now need to prepare themselves for a significant reduction in the number of homes available to them that would come with the benefit of no stamp duty owed.
“Those currently on the hunt still have time to beat next year’s deadline but they need to get their skates on and complete within the next five months.”
Meanwhile, research by Propertymark, based on the average UK house price of £293,000, those looking to move house from April 2025 could find their Stamp Duty bill more than double from £2,150 to £4,650.
Nathan Emerson, chief executive at Propertymark, said “The Autumn Budget will likely uplift the housing market over the coming months, as people potentially look to complete before any increases on Stamp Duty come into effect next April.
“It is however important to consider continued house price growth, even in the short to medium term, as overall pricing gains should outweigh any proposed stamp duty increases for the very highest percentage of buyers.”