Homebuyers paid £1.4bn in stamp duty in March, a £357m (34%) increase from February and a £544m (63%) increase from March 2024, according to HMRC statistics.
This was the final month where homebuyers could benefit from the reduced stamp duty thresholds.
On 1st April the nil rate thresholds dropped from £250,000 to £125,000 for home movers – taking the tax bill on an average priced home in England from £2,082 to £4,582.
First-time buyer relief dropped from £425,000 to £300,000. The average first-time buyer home in London is £477,695, meaning the stamp duty bill for a typical first-time buyer in the capital shot from £2,634 to £8,884.
The thresholds are now at levels which were originally set in 2014, when the average house price in England was £191,986, (now £291,640) and the tax bill was £1,340 (now £4,582).
Jonathan Stinton, head of intermediary relationships at Coventry Building Society, commented: “March was always going to be a busy month for homebuyers, with people rushing to complete before the stamp duty cliff edge. Now the deadline has passed, many will be facing thousands more in upfront costs – which can be a big hit when people are already juggling deposits, legal fees, and the cost of setting up a home.
“These kinds of changes don’t just affect individual buyers – they can shift the market as a whole. Some might delay moving altogether, while others could be priced out of areas where the average house price is above the threshold. It raises the question about whether our property tax system is keeping pace with today’s housing market – where prices have surged and tax bill shave rocketed as a result.”
