Autumn Budget 2024: Martin Lewis explains why buying a home could cost you £1,000s more next year

ITV's The Martin Lewis Money Show Live – Thursday 31 October 2024

From The Martin Lewis Money Show Live on Thursday 31 October 2024 courtesy of ITV. All rights reserved. Watch the full episode on ITVX.

Transcript of what Martin Lewis said on the show…

Below is a direct transcript of what Martin said, though we've split it into sections for ease.

Stamp Duty thresholds are coming down, so you may pay more

Martin Lewis: "So, look, house buying changes. What was in the Chancellor's speech? She announced that there will be extra Stamp Duty; the additional Stamp Duty that you pay if you're buying a second or third or fourth home, which is an extra, now, it changed today [31 October], 5% on top of the normal Stamp Duty thresholds, up from 3%.

"But here's what wasn't in the Chancellor's speech, but was in the Budget documents.

"In England and Northern Ireland, the Stamp Duty thresholds are to be cut on 1 April 2025. We wait to hear about Wales and Scotland, but they do often follow suit.

"So why wasn't it in the speech? Well, because the last Government had increased the threshold at which you pay Stamp Duty, and it was planned to come off, and the Chancellor didn't decide to continue the old thresholds. So in reality, Stamp Duty thresholds are coming down.

"These are the new Stamp Duty thresholds. Let's look first for non-first-time buyers. Okay. So what is happening in April? Currently, you do not pay Stamp Duty on the first £250,000 of the property you buy. From 1 April, that will drop down to the first £125,000, and on the rest you'll pay 2% up to £250,000.

"What that means here, is for everybody buying a property over £250,000, you will pay an extra £2,500 Stamp Duty on any property you buy above that level."

For first-time buyers, the thresholds at which you start paying Stamp Duty are changing

"Then for first-time buyers, there are two changes. First of all, you currently don't pay Stamp Duty on the first £425,000. That's dropping to £300,000. And then, currently, you pay 5% up to £625,000. That is dropping to £500,000. And now above £500,000, not £625,000, if you're buying a house above that, you don't get any of this first-time buyer relief.

"Now what that means in practice, is for someone buying a property of £425,000, I think from memory, let's work it out, you're going to be paying £6,250 more Stamp Duty from next April than you are right now.

"For someone buying a property at £625,000, you're going to be paying £11,250 more Stamp Duty. So if you are looking to buy right now and you're in the process, you want to get it done before next April because it is going to get a lot more expensive."