The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, delivered his 2018 Budget yesterday (29th October) and introduced a couple of changes to Stamp Duty within that budget. One change was announced in the House of Commons during his budget speech and the other change was in the small print of the published budget documentation and so we will detail both here.
First Time Buyers
The first change was a major one and was building on the change announced in the last budget which gave first time buyers relief on paying stamp duty on certain purchases. Following this change, the Chancellor announced, 121,500 first time buyers had benefited from the change and the number of first time buyers has hit an 11 year high.
The addition to last years announcement is that first time buyers are now exempt from stamp duty when they purchase shared ownership properties up to the value of £500,000.
This change is also extended to property purchases within this remit that occurred since the last budget, so people who may already have bought properties that meet the criteria should be able to reclaim the stamp duty that they have paid.
Time Limits Extended
The other change was a minor amendment to extend the time limits for when additional stamp duty can be reclaimed after the sale of an old property.
The background on this is that previously, if you sold your main home within 3 years of buying a new one (main residence) then you could reclaim the extra 3% stamp duty paid. But you needed to claim this extra stamp duty within 3 months of selling the old home (or 12 months of buying the new one if that was later). This has now changed and you have 12 months after selling the old property to reclaim the extra stamp duty, giving a bit more breathing space for reclaiming the money.
You can find out further information on that change here.
Note: Apologies that this article was previously titled 2019 Budget Stamp Duty Changes and it has now been amended.