Stamp duty for first time buyers up 82%

A report from Halifax says the average stamp duty bill for first-time buyers has almost doubled over the last five years. In the South East, South West and East almost all first-time buyers paid stamp duty, while in Northern regions only 42% were liable, the report said. The threshold at which buyers pay 1% has been increased to 125′000 this has helped first time buyer mortgages purchases.

“Stamp duty has again become an issue for first-time buyers because the stamp duty thresholds have not kept pace with house price inflation,” said Martin Ellis, Halifax chief economist.

“We call on all political parties to raise the stamp duty thresholds to compensate for house price inflation over the past decade,” he added.

According to a monthly survey from the Halifax, prices across the UK fell by 0.3% in February, taking the annual rate of inflation down from 4.5% to 4.2%. This is welcome news for anyone looking to arrange a first time buyer mortgage. It obviously is becoming a first time buyers market.

Shop around for a first time buyer mortgage many lenders still see new customers as good business. Have a look at what the smaller lenders have to offer, the big banks don’t fair so well in the lists of low cost lenders this time of year. Some of the best first time buyer mortgage deals come from Newcastle, Cheshire, Nottingham and the Co-Op bank.