UK plans major tax shake-up for second home buyers to help new owners
British government changes second-home tax rules to support first-time buyers in property market. The new 5% surcharge aims to help over 130k people get their first homes during next 5 years
Rachel Reeves introduced new-fangled property tax rules that will make second-home purchases more costly from oct 31st. The stamp-duty surcharge will jump to 5% (up by 2 points) which aims to give first-time buyers a better shot at property ownership
The current system which started back in sept 22 has tax-free limits of £250k for regular buyers and £425k for first-timers; these rules will stay active till march 25. The tax structure works step-by-step: starting at zero and going up to 12% for super-expensive homes worth more than £1.5m
Housing sits at the heart of Labours economic plan — theyʼve set a high-reaching target to build 370k houses each year for the next 5 yrs (thats 70k more than the old governments plan). The Institute for Fiscal Studies gave its two-cents about the situation: they told Reeves not to raise the starting point for stamp duty as it might slow down growth
The new rules apply only to england and northern ireland (its different elsewhere in UK). This tax change could make it a bit harder for some folks to move houses or start their property journey‚ but the government thinks itll help around 130k people either buy their first home or move to a new one by 29
