Stamp duty holiday: Top London areas for potential property tax savings
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is today expected to announce a stamp duty holiday in a bid to reinvigorate the UK housing market following the coronavirus lockdown.
The announcement is expected to raise the stamp duty threshold from £125,000 to £500,000, according to reports.
Experts have said that buyers searching for properties in more expensive areas could benefit the most from the stamp duty holiday.
According to analysis by Rightmove, the biggest stamp duty savings in the capital can be found in Orpington, Bromley.
The average asking price in the south-east London area is £497,852 and buyers could save £14,893 through the stamp duty holiday, the research showed.
Burnt Oak, Barnet, where asking prices are around £497,839 on average, could offer the second largest saving of £14,892, followed by Chingford in Waltham Forest where buyers could save £14,673.
Outside of London, the south east dominates the list of areas where the biggest stamp duty holiday savings could be made.
Buyers in Dorking, Lymington and Sunbury-on-Thames could save up to £14,921, £14,915 and £14,904 respectively.
The analysis showed potential stamp duty holiday savings for people who are not first-time buyers looking to buy a home where the current average asking price is between £450,000 and £500,000.
Rightmove property expert Miles Shipside said: “Buyers in higher priced areas with bigger deposits would benefit most if the stamp duty threshold was raised to £500,000.”
He added: “There’s currently record housing demand but the market also needs the ability for lenders to extend the availability of low deposit mortgages, vital to healthy first-time buyer volumes that help drive the rest of the market.
“A stamp duty holiday without better mortgage availability isn’t really helpful for hard pressed potential first-time buyers who are already mainly exempt from it anyway.”
Potential stamp duty holiday savings in London
| Area | Borough | Average asking price | Potential stamp duty saving |
| Orpington | Bromley | £497,852 | £14,893 |
| Burnt Oak | Barnet | £497,839 | £14,892 |
| Chingford | Waltham Forest | £493,462 | £14,673 |
| Sydenham | Lewisham | £492,960 | £14,648 |
| Walthamstow | Waltham Forest | £492,755 | £14,638 |
| Wembley | Brent | £482,929 | £14,146 |
| Harrow | Harrow | £482,691 | £14,135 |
| Biggin Hill | Bromley | £478,702 | £13,935 |
| Blackfen | Bexley | £470,013 | £13,501 |
| Greenford | Ealing | £465,798 | £13,290 |
| Deptford | Lewisham | £465,670 | £13,283 |
| Forest Gate | Newham | £464,455 | £13,223 |
| Norwood | Croydon | £462,172 | £13,109 |
| Hounslow | Hounslow | £460,371 | £13,019 |
| Hornchurch | Havering | £459,108 | £12,955 |
| Sutton | Sutton | £457,251 | £12,863 |
| Tottenham | Haringey | £457,091 | £12,855 |
| Kingsbury | Barnet | £456,129 | £12,806 |
| Heston | Hounslow | £452,837 | £12,642 |
| Barkingside | Redbridge | £447,356 | £12,368 |