Getting the housing market moving
3.29 The government is reducing the tax burden on people buying a home. From 23 September
2022, the government will increase the threshold above which Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)
must be paid on the purchase of residential properties in England and Northern Ireland from
£125,000 to £250,000.
3.30 The government will also increase the relief that first-time buyers can receive. From
23 September 2022, the threshold at which first-time buyers begin to pay residential SDLT will
increase from £300,000 to £425,000 and the maximum value of a property on which first-time
buyers relief can be claimed will also increase from £500,000 to £625,000. These changes will
reduce the cost of purchasing a home and will take 200,000 homebuyers, including 60,000
first-time buyers, out of SDLT entirely. As SDLT is devolved in Scotland and Wales, the Scottish
and Welsh Governments will receive funding through the agreed fiscal framework to allocate
as they see fit.
3.3
1 To make buying a home a reality, the government must accelerate housing delivery.
Planning permission was granted for more than 310,000 homes last year, up 10% on the year
before,10 but further reform is needed. Later this autumn, the government will set out its vision
to unlock homeownership for a new generation by building more homes in the places people
10 Planning applications in England: October to December 2021, DLUHC, March 2022
The Growth Plan 2022 21
want to live and work and by getting our housing market moving. This will boost growth across
the UK helping more people afford to live near good jobs.
The government’s full proposal will
be set out in due course.
3.32 The government will promote the disposal of surplus public sector land by allowing
departments greater flexibility to reinvest the proceeds of land sales over multiple years. This
will encourage the sale of more public land for housing and allow departments and the NHS to
reinvest in public services. Devolved administrations have bespoke flexibilities to move funding
between financial years and the government will discuss the implications of this change with
them in due course
