The stamp duty relief that sheltered hundreds of thousands of first-time buyers from a significant upfront tax bill has now been gone for just over a year. The numbers confirm the cost. According to Rightmove (April 2026), the average first-time buyer in England has paid £4,618 more in SDLT (Stamp Duty Land Tax) since the threshold changed on 1 April 2025. Collectively, first-time buyers have paid an estimated £307 million more in the past twelve months than they did in the year before.
What Changed and When
The Finance (No. 2) Act 2017 introduced permanent first-time buyer SDLT relief, and a temporary extension under the Stamp Duty Land Tax (Temporary Relief) Act 2022 raised the nil-rate threshold to £425,000 from September 2022. That temporary measure expired on 31 March 2025.
From 1 April 2025, the thresholds in England and Northern Ireland returned to their pre-2022 levels. The nil-rate band for first-time buyers now runs to £300,000. The rate is 5% on the portion between £300,001 and £500,000. The maximum property value to which first-time buyer relief applies fell from £625,000 back to £500,000.
Scotland uses LBTT (Land and Buildings Transaction Tax) and Wales uses LTT (Land Transaction Tax). The changes described here apply to England and Northern Ireland only.
The Numbers That Matter
For example, on a property worth £380,000 - a common price point for a first-time buyer outside London - your liability under the old threshold was zero. Under the current threshold, the rate is 5% on £80,000 (the portion above £300,000), giving an SDLT bill of £4,000.
On a property worth £500,000, the calculation changes more sharply. Previously, your liability was zero on the first £425,000 and 5% on the remaining £75,000 - a total of £3,750. Now the rate is 5% on the full £200,000 above £300,000, meaning a bill of £10,000. That is an increase of £6,250 on a single transaction.
According to Rightmove (April 2026), buyers purchasing homes priced between £300,001 and £425,000 now pay an average of £3,094 in SDLT where they previously paid nothing. For the £500,001 to £625,000 band, average costs have risen from £7,074 to £18,260.
The geographic concentration is stark. According to Rightmove (April 2026), 53% of the additional tax paid has come from buyers in London, with a further 23% from the South East.
The Market Effect
Before April 2025, according to Rightmove (April 2026), 62% of homes listed for sale were SDLT-free for first-time buyers. That proportion has now fallen to 41%. Fewer than half of available properties sit below the nil-rate threshold.
The total first-time buyer SDLT bill for the past twelve months stood at an estimated £408 million, up from £101 million the year before - a fourfold increase, according to Rightmove (April 2026).
Rightmove has called for thresholds to vary by region, arguing that a regionally aligned approach would better support buyers in markets where affordability pressures are greatest.
Speak to your accountant about your specific liability before exchanging contracts. The numbers above are illustrative. Your actual SDLT position will depend on the purchase price, property type, and whether any other reliefs apply to your circumstances.
