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Homebuyers rush to beat stamp duty deadline

Monday, 20 January 2025 11:19

Patrick McCutcheon, head of residential at Dacre, Son & Hartley

Yorkshire’s largest independent estate agent, Dacre, Son & Hartley, is reporting a distinct upswing in the number of homebuyers who want to complete their purchases before stamp duty thresholds increase on 1st April 2025

The company, which has 18 offices across West and North Yorkshire, is currently selling dozens of homes to buyers who have made the end of March their target date to move home, including several who only made offers during the early weeks of January.

During October’s Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that temporary increases to stamp duty thresholds that were put in place in 2022, would end on 31st March 2025.

Currently, homebuyers don’t pay stamp duty on properties below £250,000, but this will drop to the previous level of £125,000 at the start of April.

The threshold requiring first-time buyers to pay stamp duty will also fall from £425,000 to £300,000.

In the Budget, the Chancellor also increased the stamp duty surcharge for second homes and buy to let properties from 3% to 5% overnight.

Patrick McCutcheon, head of residential at Dacre, Son & Hartley, said:

“The next couple of months are going to be busy for anyone working in residential property including estate agents, mortgage brokers, surveyors and those in conveyancing.

“We’ve certainly seen a surge of buyers who want to complete their purchases before stamp duty costs increase and there are lots that have set the end of March as their deadline, even though a surprising number of these only made offers during January.

“However, for anyone else who wants to take advantage of the reduced stamp duty thresholds, who hasn’t yet had an offer accepted, the clock is ticking."

Dacre, Son & Hartley was founded more than 200 years ago and is Yorkshire’s largest independent estate agent with 18 offices across North and West Yorkshire.

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