NEWS

25,000 set to miss Stamp Duty deadline

25,000 first-time buyers are predicted to miss the 31 March Stamp Duty deadline, according to property website Rightmove.

This is based on homes priced up to £625,000, which is the current maximum Stamp Duty threshold to be considered a first-time buyer.

In total, an estimated nearly 74,000 home-movers in England are currently going through the legal completion process and will just miss the deadline and complete in April.

The net effect for this group, who are set to complete just one month later, is a collective £142 million in additional Stamp Duty tax, compared with what they would have paid if they’d been able to complete in March. For first-time buyers, it is a total of £34 million extra in costs.

Rightmove’s Property Market Expert, Colleen Babcock, said: ‘We expect a rush to complete close to 31 March as first-time buyers and home-movers try to avoid paying extra in tax. Our numbers show how there is a relatively small, but disproportionately impacted group of first-time buyers who will be caught out by the changing thresholds, highlighting some disparities in the way the current system works.

‘We think it would make sense to grant a short extension to the deadline and help these movers, rather than have them face higher charges when they complete later in April.’

12/03/2025