Vanessa Hale
Director, Research
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, announced on 8th July 2020, that there will be a temporary increase of the Nil Rate Band of Residential SDLT, in England and Northern Ireland, from £125,000 to £500,000. This will apply from 8th July 2020 until 31st March 2021.
This means that buyers purchasing a main home will not pay any stamp duty on the first £500,000 of a purchase, during this window of time and more expensive properties will only be taxed on their value above that amount (shown in the table below).
| Purchase price bands (£ | Percentage rate (%) |
| Up to 500,000 | 0 |
| Above 500,000 and up to 925,000 | 5 |
| Above 925,000 and up to 1,500,000 | 10 |
| Above 1,500,000+ | 12 |
This means that buyers could save as much as £15,000, if they are buying a property of £500,000 or more.
Landlords and second home buyers are also eligible for the tax cut but will still have to pay the extra 3% of stamp duty they were charged under the previous rules.
You can calculate how much SDLT you are liable to pay here:
https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-dut...
There have been no tax changes in Scotland for the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax or in Wales for the Land Transaction Tax.