Stamp duty change to benefit Streatham’s first-time buyers
The current level of house prices in Streatham will mean that the cut in stamp duty announced by Chancellor Alistair Darling in last week’s Budget will particularly benefit first-time buyers in the local area, new research shows.
Last week, the Chancellor announced that purchasers of properties worth up to £250,000 will benefit from a two-year Stamp Duty Holiday, doubling the threshold at which they pay the levy from £125,000.
The move will help first-time buyers make their first step on the property market. To pay for this change, Stamp Duty for properties worth over £1 million will be increased to 5 per cent.
In Streatham, there are far more properties on sale for less than £250,000 than over £1 million, meaning that first-time buyers in our area will particularly benefit from the change, and will save up to £2,500 when buying a home.
On the property website Find a Property, which aggregates homes on sale from different estate agents in a given area, out of a total of 803 properties available in the SW16 and SW2 postcodes, 370 are priced under £250,000 and just 18 over £1 million.
Of the 1,526 properties advertised on another property aggregator website, Prime Location, 689 are for under £250,000 and only 23 are on the market for more than £1 million.
Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for Streatham, said:
“Exemption from stamp duty for properties under £250,000 will mean that more first-time buyers can get their feet on the property ladder.
“It is clear that first time buyers in Streatham and areas like it stand to benefit most from raising the stamp duty threshold.
“This will provide a boost for the local housing market and help secure the economic recovery in our local area.”
