Expert comment by Siobhan Cox of Dean Wilson LLP:

For all of those first time buyers looking to get a foothold in the property market, there was finally some good news in the budget on 23 November. The Chancellor announced that first time buyers would not have to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on property purchases up to £300,000.

In addition, the relief applies to purchases up to a value of £500,000 so that the first time buyers will not need to pay SDLT on the first £300,000 and will then pay at a rate of five per cent on the portion from £300,001 to £500,000. If you are buying your first home for over £500,000 then there is no relief available at all.

In order to qualify for the relief, in addition to the purchase price being less than £500,000, the purchaser (or if there is more than one , each of them) must be an individual and the purchaser or purchasers must intend to occupy the property as their main or only dwelling.

The property must be a wholly residential property and so it will not apply to a commercial property or a mixed use property such as a shop with a flat above.

As to the definition of a “first time buyer”, this means that the purchaser must not have had, either alone or with others, any interest in a dwelling anywhere else in the world. This includes any ownership by virtue of inheritance or gift or if you were or are the beneficiary of a trust that owns residential property.

If you held property as a trustee but were not a beneficiary of that trust then this will not prevent you from benefitting from the relief. Furthermore, you can still benefit from the relief if you own or have previously owned non-residential property or a mixed use property, provided that the mixed use property did not include a dwelling.

Importantly, if you are buying the property jointly, all joint owners must be able to satisfy these conditions for the relief to apply.

It is hoped that the introduction of this relief will give a much needed boost to the property market which has been a little stagnant recently as a result of the additional SDLT now payable by owners of more than one dwelling, introduced in April 2016 and also the uncertainty in the economy following the Brexit decision.

Some have commented that the relief will have little effect and will be of more benefit to those who already own homes as it is likely to result in prices going up. However, that is unlikely to put off or deter those first time buyers who have been saving hard to get on the property ladder and now find that, without having to ring fence an amount for SDLT, they have enough for their deposit.

In order to try and help further, Dean Wilson LLP would like to offer all first time buyers who will qualify for this relief a 10 per cent discount on their conveyancing legal fees. Please mention this article when you ring for a quote.

Dean Wilson LLP

Tel: 01273 249200

Web: www.deanwilson.co.uk