Homebuyers Pay an Average of Nearly £12,700 in Stamp Duty over Their Lifetime

Homeowners spend an average £12,693 in total on stamp duty as they move up the housing ladder, according to the latest research from Lloyds Bank. A typical first time buyer would have paid an average stamp duty of £758 in March 2001, £1,989 for their second home in March 2009 and £9,946 for their final step in March 20171.

England and Wales paid £8.3 billion in stamp duty in 2016 - £1.2 billion2 more than in 2015.This rise reversed the £571 million decline between 2014 and 2015, which resulted from the stamp duty reforms that came into place in December 2014.

Andrew Mason, Lloyds Bank mortgage products director, commented:

“Rising house prices have caused stamp duty payments to continue to increase despite the reforms that came into effect from December 2014. As a result, the £8.3 billion raised in stamp duty in 2016 was more than £2 billion higher than at the peak of the last housing boom in 2007.

“The average home buyer pays £12,693 in stamp duty in total as they move up the housing ladder. This average, however, disguises substantial regional differences with homemovers, with those in Greater London paying over £40,000. Escalating stamp duty payments have contributed to significant increases in moving costs in recent years.”

Total stamp duty bill for London homebuyers tops £40,000

The highest overall stamp duty bills are faced by buyers in London and the South East.  In London, homebuyers pay a total of £40,576, 320% more than the average for England and Wales.  In the South East, the overall bill is £20,133. The lowest bills are in the North (£4,212) and Wales (£4,489).

More than three quarters (78%) of first time buyers pay stamp duty - up from 47% in 2001

Other research findings show that the proportion of first time buyers paying stamp duty3 has risen in the past 16 years from 47% in 2001 to 78% in 2017. In Greater London, 100% of first time buyers face paying stamp duty with 98% of first time buyers paying the tax in the South East. The only region where fewer than half of first time buyers pay stamp duty is the North 41%.

9 in 10 homemovers in England and Wales pay stamp duty

In the southern regions4, nearly all home movers now face paying stamp duty – London (100%), South East (99%), South West (97%) and East Anglia (97%). By comparison, 72% of homemovers in the North and 78% in Wales pay stamp duty.