First-time buyers have saved a tremendous £426m in stamp duty, taking advantage of the government’s stamp duty relief introduced in November 2017, according to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) Quarterly Stamp Duty Land Tax Statistics.
The report revealed that approximately 180,500 first-time buyers have used the relief, with the average buyer saving £2,360 in stamp duty.
Furthermore, 80 per cent of first-time buyers in the past quarter paid zero stamp duty, and a fifth of all property buyers have claimed the relief.
AJ Bell personal finance analyst Laura Suter highlighted that the relief has “undoubtedly provided a leg-up” for some buyers, allowing them to save up to £5,000 and gain access to the property market sooner.
Suter added that first-time buyers can pair this tax break with the £1,000 a year government bonus from the Lifetime ISA and other initiatives, such as Help to Buy, in order to increase their chances of getting on the property ladder.
However, despite this saving, the AJ Bell personal finance analyst highlighted that saving for a deposit is “still a massive hurdle” for many prospective buyers.
“This is shown by the fact that the average first-time buyer in the UK is now 30-years-old and has an annual salary of £42,000, while the average London buyer is 32 and has a whopping £70,000 household income,” Suter concluded.
NEW BUILD IN FOCUS - NEW EPISODE OF THE MORTGAGE INSIDER PODCAST, OUT NOW
Figures from the National House-Building Council saw Q1 2025 register a 36% increase in new homes built across the UK compared with the same period last year, representing a striking development for the first-time buyer market. But with the higher cost of building, ongoing planning challenges and new and changing regulations, how sustainable is this growth? And what does it mean for brokers?
The role of the bridging market and technology usage in the industry
Content editor, Dan McGrath, sat down with chief operating officer at Black & White Bridging, Damien Druce, and head of development finance at Empire Global Finance, Pete Williams, to explore the role of the bridging sector, the role of AI across the industry and how the property market has fared in the Labour Government’s first year in office.
Does the North-South divide still exist in the UK housing market?
What do the most expensive parts of the country reveal about shifting demand? And why is the Manchester housing market now outperforming many southern counterparts?
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance, to explore how regional trends are redefining the UK housing, mortgage and buy-to-let markets.
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance, to explore how regional trends are redefining the UK housing, mortgage and buy-to-let markets.
The new episode of The Mortgage Insider podcast, out now
Regional housing markets now matter more than ever. While London and the Southeast still tend to dominate the headlines from a house price and affordability perspective, much of the growth in rental yields and buyer demand is coming from other parts of the UK.
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance.
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance.
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