Rightmove has called on the government to use this year’s Autumn Budget to reform stamp duty warning that the current system is acting as a “major barrier to movement” across the housing market.
In a statement issued following yesterday’s Spring Forecast, the portal said attention should now turn to the structure of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), arguing that current thresholds have failed to keep pace with rising house prices.
Rightmove’s data shows that just 41% of homes currently for sale in England fall under the £300,000 stamp duty-free threshold for first-time buyers, down from 50% five years ago – a nine percentage point decline.
The squeeze is most pronounced in higher-priced regions.
REGIONAL VARIATIONS
In the South East, only 30% of homes are now below the threshold, down from 42% in 2021. The East of England has fallen from 50% to 39%, while the South West has dropped from 55% to 41%. In the West Midlands, the proportion has reduced from 68% to 53%.
London remains the least accessible region for first-time buyers under the current threshold, with just 12% of homes for sale qualifying as stamp duty-free – broadly unchanged from 11% five years ago.
Northern regions continue to offer greater availability under the threshold, though the proportion has also declined. In the North East, 75% of homes fall below £300,000, compared with 85% in 2021, while Yorkshire and The Humber has seen a drop from 76% to 64%.
Rightmove argues that reforming the system could help unlock greater mobility across the market, particularly for downsizers and first-time buyers, at a time when transaction levels remain sensitive to affordability pressures.
BIG OPPORTUNITY
Colleen Babcock, Rightmove’s Property Expert, says: “Looking ahead to the Autumn Budget, which is the government’s big opportunity for policy change this year, we’d really like to see stamp duty properly looked at.
“The current bandings haven’t kept up with house prices, and as a result less than half of homes in England are now stamp-duty free to first-time buyers, falling to just one in ten homes in higher-priced regions like London.
“For most movers, the tax is unavoidable, and it can be a real deterrent, particularly for those at the top of chains considering a downsized move.”
REGIONALISED APPROACH
And she says: “With around seven or eight months to go until the Autumn Budget, there’s time for the government to give some serious thought about how the system could be improved.
“That could mean a more regionalised approach, higher zero-rate thresholds, spreading payments over a longer period, or even scrapping stamp duty altogether. In its current form, stamp duty remains a major barrier to movement, which isn’t good for would-be buyers and sellers, or for the wider economy.”
